Morgan Stanley Lowers Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Price Target to $42.00

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Free Report) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on BHF. Raymond James Financial upgraded Brighthouse Financial from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Brighthouse Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $63.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.30.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

Brighthouse Financial stock traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $50.61. 322,072 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 634,951. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Brighthouse Financial has a 1 year low of $40.00 and a 1 year high of $64.12. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $56.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 0.88.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $4.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.72 by ($0.55). The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 25.60%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Vonda Huss sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.51, for a total transaction of $178,530.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,097,423.91. This represents a 13.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 9.3% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,838,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,587,000 after buying an additional 155,944 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 187.3% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,823,162 shares of the company's stock worth $87,585,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188,685 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 41.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 985,215 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,134,000 after acquiring an additional 286,607 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 912,242 shares of the company's stock worth $52,901,000 after acquiring an additional 28,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,131,000. 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.