Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF - Free Report) by 31.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 140,868 shares of the company's stock after selling 65,856 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Brighthouse Financial worth $6,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 0.9% during the third 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. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 29.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the company's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 5.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,843 shares of the company's stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 974.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 623 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 24.0% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,100 shares of the company's stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.24% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BHF. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $47.00 to $43.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $50.63.

Insider Activity at Brighthouse Financial

In other Brighthouse Financial news, CEO Eric T. Steigerwalt sold 25,000 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.67, for a total transaction of $1,141,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 321,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,663,358.24. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Rosenthal sold 4,265 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.04, for a total transaction of $196,360.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,262 shares in the company, valued at $3,971,502.48. This trade represents a 4.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,265 shares of company stock valued at $1,564,211 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $50.00 on Thursday. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.00 and a 12-month high of $56.24. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company's 50-day moving average price is $47.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.54.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.50 by ($0.51). The company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 prior year, the business earned $4.18 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 18.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brighthouse Financial 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.