Insider Selling: Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) CEO Sells 25,000 Shares of Stock

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) CEO Eric T. Steigerwalt sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.67, for a total transaction of $1,141,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 321,072 shares in the company, valued at $14,663,358.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BHF stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $45.50. The stock had a trading volume of 324,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 447,576. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.24 and a fifty-two week high of $56.24. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.44. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of -2.38 and a beta of 1.08.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $5.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.36 by $1.21. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 38.05% and a positive return on equity of 23.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.13 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHF. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $89,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $169,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on BHF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of 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 shares of Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $47.00 to $43.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.