Royal Bank of Canada Sells 171,069 Shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF)

Royal Bank of Canada cut its holdings in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF - Free Report) by 19.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 698,608 shares of the company's stock after selling 171,069 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 1.18% of Brighthouse Financial worth $33,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BHF. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the 4th quarter worth $488,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 62,827 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,018,000 after acquiring an additional 16,120 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $378,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 89,097 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,280,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Brighthouse Financial by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 732,689 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,198,000 after purchasing an additional 24,662 shares during the period. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

BHF traded down $1.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $59.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 76,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 575,300. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.00 and a fifty-two week high of $64.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.96.

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). Brighthouse Financial had a net margin of 8.21% and a return on equity of 26.94%. The company had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.25 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 20.32 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Raymond James 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 report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Brighthouse Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $64.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.80.

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.