Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Upgraded to “Equal Weight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $59.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $41.00.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $64.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays raised Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.75.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BHF opened at $62.97 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $52.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.78. Brighthouse Financial has a 1-year low of $40.00 and a 1-year high of $64.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20 and a beta of 1.10.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $5.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.56 by $1.32. Brighthouse Financial had a return on equity of 26.94% and a net margin of 8.21%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Brighthouse Financial

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 $4,041,982. The trade was a 13.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,727,141.90. This trade represents a 20.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHF. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 989.5% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 327.0% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 918 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $94,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

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.