Brokerages Set Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Price Target at $51.75

Shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) have been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.75.

Several analysts have commented on BHF shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BHF opened at $47.97 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Brighthouse Financial has a 52 week low of $40.00 and a 52 week high of $54.73. The stock has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.36 and a beta of 1.06.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.50 by ($0.51). Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 23.54% and a negative net margin of 24.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.18 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Brighthouse Financial

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total transaction of $434,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. This represents a 20.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Rosenthal sold 4,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.04, for a total transaction of $196,360.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,971,502.48. This represents a 4.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,091,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,160,000 after acquiring an additional 8,004 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 20.3% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 27,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 4,726 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the third quarter worth $782,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 12.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 320,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,441,000 after purchasing an additional 35,800 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,314,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,240,000 after purchasing an additional 50,441 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

About Brighthouse Financial

Brighthouse Financial, Inc provides annuity and life insurance products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Annuities, Life, and Run-off. The Annuities segment consists of variable, fixed, index-linked, and income annuities for contract holders’ needs for protected wealth accumulation on a tax-deferred basis, wealth transfer, and income security.