Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Given New $59.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) had its price objective hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $58.00 to $59.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the stock.

BHF has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Brighthouse Financial from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their target price for the company from $48.00 to $47.00 in a report on Monday, June 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an in-line rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $50.44.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

BHF stock opened at $43.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.30 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.21. Brighthouse Financial has a fifty-two week low of $40.24 and a fifty-two week high of $56.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.29. Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 38.05% and a positive return on equity of 23.49%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.86 EPS. Brighthouse Financial’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial will post 17.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.91, for a total value of $298,608.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,876,101.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.91, for a total value of $298,608.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,876,101.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Inserra acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $43.20 per share, with a total value of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $237,600. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 29.7% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,073,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,496,000 after buying an additional 475,327 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,061,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,200,000 after acquiring an additional 45,938 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 0.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 723,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,438 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 21.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 667,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,663,000 after acquiring an additional 119,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,362,000. 81.24% of the stock is currently 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.