MetLife, Morgan Stanley and Other Financial Stocks With Recent Golden Crosses

Banking, finance, and taxes

Published: November 19, 2019 8:15 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 1:01 pm

Golden crosses and death crosses are common signals in technical analysis and refer to the relationship between short-term and long-term moving averages. The golden cross typically is seen as a bullish sign, perhaps a stock that has broken out or is about to. The death cross, on the other hand, can be a bearish sign, perhaps warning investors to get out of the way or signaling that it may be time short the stock.

Here are five financial giants whose stocks recently saw their 50-day moving average cross above the 200-day average, a golden cross.

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Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) saw its golden cross last week, the first in more than two years. This London-based bank recently established a Sustainable and Impact Banking Group. Its shares have climbed 3% or so in the past month, though they are more than 15% higher than at the beginning of the year. Note that the consensus price target is less than the current share price.

MetLife Inc.’s (NYSE: MET) short-term moving average crossed above the long-term earlier this month, reversing the death cross seen in October. The insurance giant posted mixed third-quarter results, and it has an investor conference coming up in December. Despite pulling back some last week, the shares are still up more than 5% in the past month, while the S&P 500 has gained less than 4% in that time. Analysts overall recommend buying shares, though the sentiment is weak.

The rise in the Morgan Stanley Inc. (NYSE: MS) short-term moving average began in earnest in mid-October, and the gap between the two moving averages is up to about 2.2% of the share price. The third-quarter earnings report posted in October showed strong results, and the shares are up about 9% from this time a month ago. The consensus recommendation is to buy shares and has been for months.

State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) saw a golden cross about a week ago, its first in more than year. Deutsche Bank and other analysts have upgraded the stock or raised price targets recently. Shares are currently up more than 12% in the past 30 days, but note that most of the analysts surveyed still recommend holding the shares.

Toronto-Dominion Bank’s (NYSE: TD) golden cross happened earlier this month, but the difference in the two averages is only up to about 36 cents so far. The Canadian banking giant is scheduled to report its most recent quarterly results in early December. Its shares are up more than 2% in the past month and more than 15% year to date. The analysts’ consensus recommendation is to hold the shares.