Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 65,856 Shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) by 31.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 140,868 shares of the company’s stock after selling 65,856 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Brighthouse Financial worth $6,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 974.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 29.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 97.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $89,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 1st quarter worth $110,000. 81.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $50.00 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.54. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.00 and a twelve month high of $56.24. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of -2.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 24.40% and a positive return on equity of 23.54%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.18 EPS. Research analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 18.44 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on BHF. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $47.00 to $43.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brighthouse Financial

In other news, CEO Eric T. Steigerwalt sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.67, for a total value of $1,141,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 321,072 shares in the company, valued at $14,663,358.24. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John Rosenthal sold 4,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.04, for a total value of $196,360.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,262 shares in the company, valued at $3,971,502.48. The trade was a 4.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,265 shares of company stock worth $1,564,211. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.