Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 875,172 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 193% from the previous session’s volume of 298,403 shares.The stock last traded at $61.66 and had previously closed at $51.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BHF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays raised shares of Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brighthouse Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.63.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Up 6.3 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 24.40% and a positive return on equity of 23.54%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.18 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 18.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total transaction of $434,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. This represents a 20.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $643,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter worth $287,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $312,000. 81.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.