Bank of America Trims MetLife (NYSE:MET) Target Price to $96.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price objective reduced by Bank of America from $99.00 to $96.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $82.14.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE MET opened at $70.56 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife has a 1-year low of $57.91 and a 1-year high of $79.34.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. Equities analysts predict that MetLife will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 73.3% during the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Company Profile

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.