Norges Bank Makes New $37.13 Million Investment in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 772,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,131,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 2,632.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 884,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,475,000 after purchasing an additional 851,808 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,682,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,807,000 after buying an additional 181,980 shares during the last quarter. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,321,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,314,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,240,000 after buying an additional 50,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $1,748,000. 81.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Brighthouse Financial

In related news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total value of $610,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,262 shares in the company, valued at $4,041,982. This trade represents a 13.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Brighthouse Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $52.00 price objective on Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $72.00 price target on Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.80.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Down 10.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ BHF opened at $49.06 on Friday. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.00 and a 12-month high of $64.12. The company has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.79.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $5.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.56 by $1.32. Brighthouse Financial had a return on equity of 26.94% and a net margin of 8.21%. Equities research analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 20.32 EPS for the current year.

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.