MetLife (NYSE:MET) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

MetLife (NYSE:MET) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on MET. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.00.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE MET traded up $2.78 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $84.04. 4,757,833 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,352,342. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. MetLife has a 52 week low of $57.91 and a 52 week high of $84.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $75.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.32.

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

Institutional Trading of MetLife

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 73.3% in the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 602.5% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 72.6% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.