Jefferies Financial Group Increases MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target to $95.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price target upped by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $89.00 to $95.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.18% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Bank of America decreased their target price on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.23.

MetLife Trading Up 1.2 %

MetLife stock opened at $82.48 on Friday. MetLife has a one year low of $57.91 and a one year high of $82.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $58.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.34, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that MetLife will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new position in MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at $7,012,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in MetLife by 54.9% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 371,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,983,000 after buying an additional 131,538 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the 1st quarter worth about $1,053,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in MetLife by 2,313.7% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 104,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,772,000 after acquiring an additional 100,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 38.3% in the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 30,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,258,000 after acquiring an additional 8,440 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

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.