Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Hold"

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday.

BHF has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Raymond James Financial raised Brighthouse Financial from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $72.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group set a $72.00 target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $60.80.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BHF traded down $0.01 on Friday, hitting $58.86. The stock had a trading volume of 1,177,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 589,317. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $57.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.93. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.06 and a beta of 0.92. Brighthouse Financial has a 52-week low of $40.00 and a 52-week high of $64.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.72 by ($0.55). The business had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a return on equity of 25.60% and a net margin of 8.71%. Brighthouse Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP Vonda Huss sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.51, for a total value of $178,530.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,441 shares in the company, valued at $1,097,423.91. The trade was a 13.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BHF. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 187.3% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,823,162 shares of the company's stock worth $87,585,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188,685 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 2,632.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 884,162 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,475,000 after purchasing an additional 851,808 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $37,131,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Brighthouse Financial by 156.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 656,464 shares of the company's stock worth $31,537,000 after purchasing an additional 400,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 41.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 985,215 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,134,000 after purchasing an additional 286,607 shares in the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is 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.