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

Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 678,920 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 26,813 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.14% of Brighthouse Financial worth $32,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BHF. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Brighthouse Financial by 187.3% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,823,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,585,000 after buying an additional 1,188,685 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,682,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,807,000 after acquiring an additional 181,980 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 2,632.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 884,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,475,000 after purchasing an additional 851,808 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial in the 4th quarter worth $37,131,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 9,500 shares in the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on BHF. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Brighthouse Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brighthouse Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.10.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Shares of Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $58.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.60 and a 200 day moving average of $53.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.00 and a 12 month high of $64.12.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $4.17 EPS 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%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 20.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.