Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Stock Price

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BHF. Jefferies Financial Group cut Brighthouse Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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, Barclays raised Brighthouse Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $85.00 in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.75.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BHF traded down $2.42 on Tuesday, hitting $59.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 632,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 745,440. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.98. Brighthouse Financial has a 1 year low of $40.00 and a 1 year high of $64.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

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 for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 20.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total value of $610,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 66,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,041,982. This represents a 13.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 989.5% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 327.0% during the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 918 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 29.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 30.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,001 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.