Northern Trust Corp Acquires 26,813 Shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF)

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 678,920 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 26,813 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.14% of Brighthouse Financial worth $32,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BHF. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $287,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 525,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,240,000 after buying an additional 9,500 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $384,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $312,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 114,984 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,524,000 after buying an additional 33,716 shares in the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on BHF. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group set a $72.00 target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Brighthouse Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $60.40.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ BHF traded up $1.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.94. 304,690 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 566,890. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.00 and a fifty-two week high of $64.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.96. The business's fifty day moving average is $55.05 and its 200 day moving average is $53.44.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.72 by ($0.55). Brighthouse Financial had a return on equity of 26.94% and a net margin of 8.21%. The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.25 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 20.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.