MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Raised to $86.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price objective lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MetLife from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $79.08.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $70.97 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.49. MetLife has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $74.68. The company has a market capitalization of $51.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.78, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. As a group, analysts expect that MetLife will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MET. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. bought a new stake in MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.