MetLife, Inc. (MET) Stock Price & How to Invest

MetLife, Inc. is one of the world's largest providers of life insurance, employee benefits, annuities, and asset management, serving individuals and institutional clients across the United States, Asia, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It reports through several segments, including Group Benefits (group life, dental, disability, and other workplace coverage), Retirement and Income Solutions (annuities, pension risk transfers, structured settlements, and stable value products), Asia, Latin America, EMEA, and MetLife Holdings, its book of legacy US business. The core model is classic insurance: collect premiums, pay claims and benefits over time, and invest the difference (the float) in a large fixed-income-heavy portfolio, earning a spread. That makes MetLife both an underwriter and a giant investor, so its profitability depends on disciplined pricing, mortality and morbidity trends, and the returns it earns on invested assets.

The investment picture in mid-2026 is one of solid, cash-generative results paired with heavy capital returns. Full-year 2025 revenue rose to about $77.1 billion, though reported net income fell year over year on investment and actuarial items, and adjusted earnings have been trending higher: Q1 2026 adjusted EPS climbed roughly 23% year over year to about $2.42, beating expectations even as reported revenue came in a touch light. Management has emphasized expense discipline (targeting a lower direct expense ratio), strong free cash flow generation, and returning capital: it raised the quarterly dividend by about 4.4% to $0.5925 per share and extended its buyback authorization. MetLife is executing a multi-year strategy focused on growing higher-return businesses like group benefits, retirement solutions, Asia, and asset management while running the legacy Holdings block down.

MetLife's biggest risks come from the same levers that drive its profits. As a large investor of policyholder float, it is exposed to interest-rate swings, credit spreads, and equity-market moves: sharp rate changes affect both investment income and the value of long-duration liabilities, and a credit downturn could pressure its bond and commercial-real-estate holdings. Insurance-specific risks include mortality, morbidity, and longevity assumptions proving wrong, plus reserve adequacy on long-tail liabilities like pensions and annuities. Its international earnings add currency and local-regulatory risk. Reported net income can be lumpy because of actuarial assumption updates, derivative marks, and market-related items, which is why the company emphasizes adjusted earnings. Insurance is also heavily regulated and capital-intensive, so statutory capital requirements and rating-agency views constrain how much can be returned to shareholders.

16 analysts publish price targets on MET, averaging $97.75 against a $96.13 price as of August 2026, or +1.7%. The published targets run from $75.00 to $106.00, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 12 buy, 5 hold, 1 sell. Over the last six months there have been 12 raises and 0 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full MET forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on MetLife, Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Group Benefits and workplace demand. Group Benefits is a scale business where MetLife sells life, dental, disability, and supplemental coverage through employers. The most optimistic published target, $106.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. MetLife's biggest risks come from the same levers that drive its profits. The most pessimistic target, $75.00, is roughly what MET is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on MET, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see MetLife, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue trend: Full-year 2025 revenue was about $77.1 billion, up mid-single digits year over year; Q1 2026 revenue was roughly $19 billion
• Profitability: Adjusted EPS has been rising (Q1 2026 adjusted EPS ~$2.42, up ~23% year over year), while reported net income can swing on investment and actuarial items
• Balance sheet / leverage: Large, mostly fixed-income investment portfolio backing long-duration liabilities; capital-intensive and regulated, with statutory capital and ratings constraints
• Capital returns: Raised the quarterly dividend ~4.4% to $0.5925 per share in 2026 and extended buybacks; targets $25 billion-plus of free cash flow over its plan
• Valuation: Typically trades on a modest earnings multiple and around or below book/embedded value, as is common for large life insurers; verify current P/E and price-to-book live
• Analyst sentiment: Generally constructive on capital return and adjusted-earnings growth, with debate over rate sensitivity and legacy liabilities; check current ratings and targets

These are qualitative and approximate as of the asOf date and not precise real-time figures. Insurer results are heavily affected by interest rates, credit markets, and actuarial assumption changes, so reported numbers can differ sharply from adjusted ones. Confirm live revenue, EPS, dividend, and valuation before acting.

If you want MET exposure as part of a larger bundle rather than directly, these ETFs hold it meaningfully. Weights are approximate and refresh quarterly.

Other names that sit close to MET: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get MET exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it (PFFD), which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so MET sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where MET fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

MetLife is a large, diversified life-and-benefits insurer with steady free cash flow, a long-standing dividend, and heavy capital returns, balanced against sensitivity to interest rates, credit markets, and long-tail insurance liabilities. It suits investors who want financial-sector income and scale rather than fast growth.

Whether MET is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is MET a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the MET stock forecast.

For income investors, whether MET pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does MET pay a dividend? And to weigh MET against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: MET vs PRU and MET vs LNC.