Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $47.32, but opened at $52.06. Brighthouse Financial shares last traded at $51.66, with a volume of 708,384 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BHF. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler cut 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two investment 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $60.30.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $56.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.38.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $2.16 billion for 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.25 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 20.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Vonda Huss sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.51, for a total transaction of $178,530.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 195,895 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,411,000 after purchasing an additional 14,316 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the company's stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $780,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $384,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 74,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,597,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the period. 81.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.