Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) CFO Edward A. Spehar Sells 7,125 Shares

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.74, for a total value of $297,397.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,571,093.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Shares of Brighthouse Financial stock traded up $0.83 during trading on Thursday, reaching $42.17. 364,618 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 452,768. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.24 and a 1-year high of $56.24. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.17 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $44.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.88.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $5.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.36 by $1.21. Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 23.49% and a negative net margin of 38.05%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.13 EPS. Brighthouse Financial’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 15.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BHF. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 21.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,273,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,210,000 after purchasing an additional 228,814 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,061,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,200,000 after purchasing an additional 45,938 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Brighthouse Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $33,362,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 75.9% in the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 623,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,027,000 after purchasing an additional 269,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 441,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,350,000 after purchasing an additional 8,471 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $51.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $47.00 to $43.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Four equities 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.00.

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.