Morgan Stanley Cuts MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target to $94.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MET has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $97.00 price objective (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.60.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET opened at $78.9760 on Monday. MetLife has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $77.82 and its 200 day moving average is $78.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $52.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 38.47%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MetLife

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. North Capital Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 198.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.