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

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Free Report) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the stock.

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

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BHF traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $49.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 681,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 849,485. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $57.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.88. Brighthouse Financial has a fifty-two week low of $40.00 and a fifty-two week high of $64.12.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 25.60%. Brighthouse Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Vonda Huss sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.51, for a total value of $178,530.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,097,423.91. The trade was a 13.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $406,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,415 shares of the company's stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Kawa Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the second quarter valued at $8,066,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 23,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,459 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 19.4% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,364 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. 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.