Royce & Associates LP Decreases Stock Holdings in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF)

Royce & Associates LP lessened its holdings in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 131,410 shares of the company’s stock after selling 136,060 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Brighthouse Financial were worth $5,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 145,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,501,000 after acquiring an additional 18,124 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 39.4% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 84,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,359,000 after purchasing an additional 23,922 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 342.1% during the 1st quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 28,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,446,000 after buying an additional 21,716 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $406,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $110,000. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BHF shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brighthouse Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.63.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $50.97 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.51 and a beta of 1.05. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.00 and a 52-week high of $56.24. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.50 by ($0.51). The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 23.54% and a negative net margin of 24.40%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.18 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 18.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 4,265 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.04, for a total value of $196,360.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 86,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,971,502.48. This represents a 4.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Eric T. Steigerwalt sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.67, for a total value of $1,141,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 321,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,663,358.24. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,265 shares of company stock valued at $1,564,211 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.