Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Price Target Lowered to $41.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) had its price target cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $42.00 to $41.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.38.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $47.78 on Tuesday. Brighthouse Financial has a 52 week low of $40.00 and a 52 week high of $54.73. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.94. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of -2.35 and a beta of 1.08. 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 (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.50 by ($0.51). Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 24.40% and a positive return on equity of 23.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.18 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total transaction of $434,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. This represents a 20.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BHF. State Street Corp increased its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 2.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 0.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 75.9% in the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 623,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,027,000 after purchasing an additional 269,062 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 12.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Brighthouse Financial by 278.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 280,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,147,000 after buying an additional 206,116 shares in the last quarter. 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.