Brighthouse Financial Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:BHF)

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 16,373 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 910% compared to the average volume of 1,621 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brighthouse Financial

In other news, EVP Vonda Huss sold 3,000 shares of the company'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 now directly owns 18,441 shares in the company, valued at $1,097,423.91. This represents a 13.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 188.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 622 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 42.0% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 764 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 835.2% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 823 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 327.0% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 918 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 101.7% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $52.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Brighthouse Financial from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $60.80.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Up 1.8%

BHF stock traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $53.84. 876,296 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 608,139. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $57.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.99. 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 company has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.92. Brighthouse Financial has a one year low of $40.00 and a one year high of $64.12.

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

Brighthouse Financial Company Profile

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.