Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company upgraded the stock from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating. Wells Fargo & Company now has a $59.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $41.00. Brighthouse Financial traded as high as $64.12 and last traded at $63.32, with a volume of 49864 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $62.81.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on BHF. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Brighthouse Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Brighthouse Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total transaction of $434,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. The trade was a 20.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 66,262 shares in the company, valued at $4,041,982. The trade was a 13.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,860 shares of the company's stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 46,297 shares of the company's stock worth $2,224,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,345 shares of the company's stock worth $1,362,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 6,055 shares of the company's stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 35,755 shares of the company's stock worth $1,610,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Down 3.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 1.10. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $53.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.98.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $5.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.56 by $1.32. Brighthouse Financial had a return on equity of 26.94% and a net margin of 8.21%. On average, equities analysts forecast 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.