Proficio Capital Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 17,198 Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 17,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $826,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 30.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 5.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 42,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,904,000 after acquiring an additional 2,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 7.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 2,327 shares in the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BHF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $52.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group set a $72.00 price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $52.00 target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Brighthouse Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.80.

Insider Activity at Brighthouse Financial

In related news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total value of $610,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 66,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,041,982. The trade was a 13.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $57.98 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.77. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 1.11. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.00 and a twelve month high of $64.12. 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 (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $5.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.56 by $1.32. Brighthouse Financial had a return on equity of 26.94% and a net margin of 8.21%. On average, research analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 20.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brighthouse Financial 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.