Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Price Target Cut to $41.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) had its price objective decreased by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $52.00 to $41.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential downside of 14.26% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on BHF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised Brighthouse Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Raymond James raised 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 report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.00.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Shares of BHF stock opened at $47.82 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average is $56.66 and its 200 day moving average is $52.01. Brighthouse Financial has a twelve month low of $40.00 and a twelve month high of $64.12.

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

Insider Activity at Brighthouse Financial

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

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 50,441 shares during the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $287,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Brighthouse Financial by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 525,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,240,000 after buying an additional 9,500 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $312,000. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $826,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Brighthouse Financial Company Profile

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.