Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Raised to Equal Weight at Wells Fargo & Company

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $59.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $41.00. Wells Fargo & Company's price target points to a potential downside of 0.76% from the company's previous close.

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

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BHF traded down $2.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.45. The stock had a trading volume of 632,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,026,072. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.98. Brighthouse Financial has a one year low of $40.00 and a one year high of $64.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE 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.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $5.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.56 by $1.32. Brighthouse Financial had a net margin of 8.21% and a return on equity of 26.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $434,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,407 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of Brighthouse Financial 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,262 shares in the company, valued at $4,041,982. This trade represents a 13.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHF. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the company's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,843 shares of the company's stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $216,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,280,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 214,222 shares of the company's stock worth $9,646,000 after purchasing an additional 5,899 shares during the period. 81.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.