Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Stock Rating Upgraded by Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Free Report) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. Barclays currently has $85.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $52.00.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $57.63.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BHF stock traded up $0.45 on Wednesday, reaching $61.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,428,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 506,721. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. Brighthouse Financial has a 1 year low of $40.00 and a 1 year high of $64.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.04 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.71.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.50 by ($0.51). The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 24.40% and a positive return on equity of 23.54%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.18 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Brighthouse Financial

In related news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total value of $434,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,727,141.90. The trade was a 20.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BHF. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,314,905 shares of the company's stock valued at $104,240,000 after acquiring an additional 50,441 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 278.0% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its position in Brighthouse Financial by 9.3% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 222,504 shares of the company's stock worth $10,019,000 after buying an additional 19,022 shares during the period. 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.