Barclays Cuts MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target to $95.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price objective reduced by Barclays from $96.00 to $95.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on MET. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.08.

MetLife Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE MET opened at $83.99 on Friday. MetLife has a twelve month low of $66.18 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $58.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.83.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. Equities analysts anticipate that MetLife will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 109.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,862,000 after buying an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in MetLife in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 79.1% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,726,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,378,000 after buying an additional 762,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 256.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,209,000 after acquiring an additional 682,333 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% 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.