Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Price Target to $52.00

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) had its target price cut by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $59.00 to $52.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 8.74% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded Brighthouse Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group set a $72.00 price target on Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.00.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $47.82 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93. Brighthouse Financial has a 52 week low of $40.00 and a 52 week high of $64.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $56.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Insider Activity at Brighthouse Financial

In related news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 66,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,041,982. This represents a 13.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,314,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,240,000 after acquiring an additional 50,441 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,091,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,160,000 after purchasing an additional 8,004 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $826,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $312,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the period. 81.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.