Jefferies Financial Group Cuts MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target to $83.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price target reduced by Jefferies Financial Group from $88.00 to $83.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Argus lifted their target price on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. StockNews.com raised MetLife from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $79.92.

MetLife Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $70.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.12. MetLife has a twelve month low of $55.18 and a twelve month high of $74.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. The business had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MetLife will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th were paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 74.91%.

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

Institutional Trading of MetLife

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CNB Bank raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 9.3% in the first quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.9% in the first quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 5,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.7% in the first quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 3,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 12.5% in the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 73.3% in the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.