Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $7.83 Million Holdings in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) by 0.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 134,980 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,187 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Brighthouse Financial were worth $7,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 406 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its position 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 buying an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH acquired a new position in Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $94,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 11.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BHF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $63.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.30.

Insider Transactions at Brighthouse Financial

In other news, EVP Vonda Huss sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.51, for a total transaction of $178,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,097,423.91. This represents a 13.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Down 3.7%

Shares of BHF opened at $47.32 on Wednesday. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.00 and a 52 week high of $64.12. The firm has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 25.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.25 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 20.32 earnings per share for the current 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.