Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for MetLife (NYSE:MET) Stock

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price target boosted by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $109.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 28.26% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MET. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

MetLife Price Performance

MET stock traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $84.98. The company had a trading volume of 929,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,477,137. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $58.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07. MetLife has a 1-year low of $67.30 and a 1-year high of $89.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $83.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.72.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. Equities research analysts expect that MetLife will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MetLife

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,019,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $463,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723,461 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.