Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Short Interest Update

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,310,000 shares, a decrease of 6.4% from the December 15th total of 1,400,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 363,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Brighthouse Financial

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total transaction of $434,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,727,141.90. This represents a 20.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BHF. State Street Corp increased its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,314,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,240,000 after purchasing an additional 50,441 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,091,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,160,000 after buying an additional 8,004 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 75.9% during the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 623,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,027,000 after buying an additional 269,062 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 320,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,441,000 after buying an additional 35,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 278.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 280,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,147,000 after acquiring an additional 206,116 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BHF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.38.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BHF opened at $50.56 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.10. Brighthouse Financial has a twelve month low of $40.00 and a twelve month high of $54.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of -2.49 and a beta of 1.08.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.50 by ($0.51). Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 24.40% and a positive return on equity of 23.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.18 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.2 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.