Northern Trust Corp Buys 26,813 Shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF)

Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 678,920 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,813 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in Brighthouse Financial were worth $32,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BHF. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $287,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 525,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,240,000 after buying an additional 9,500 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $384,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $312,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 114,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,524,000 after acquiring an additional 33,716 shares during the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on BHF shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group set a $72.00 price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $64.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.10.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Up 1.5 %

Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $58.74 on Friday. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.00 and a twelve month high of $64.12. The business has a fifty day moving average of $54.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.16. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.79 by ($0.62). Brighthouse Financial had a net margin of 8.21% and a return on equity of 26.94%. Brighthouse Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.25 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 20.32 earnings per share 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.