Xponance Inc. Buys 181 Shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF)

Xponance Inc. lifted its position in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,860 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Brighthouse Financial were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 33.1% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $287,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $312,000. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $361,000. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on BHF shares. Morgan Stanley set a $52.00 price objective on Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $72.00 target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brighthouse Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.80.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ BHF opened at $58.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 1.11. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.00 and a 52-week high of $64.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $57.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.14.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last announced its quarterly 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 20.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brighthouse Financial

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

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.