Brighthouse Financial, Inc. $BHF Stake Boosted by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,001,646 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 163,626 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Brighthouse Financial were worth $107,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BHF. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 41.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 985,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,134,000 after buying an additional 286,607 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 6.1% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 720,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,767,000 after acquiring an additional 41,323 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 386,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,423,000 after acquiring an additional 23,990 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 156.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 262,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,245,000 after acquiring an additional 160,272 shares during the period. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd bought a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $11,761,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on BHF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Brighthouse Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 target price on Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $63.70.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:BHF opened at $65.58 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $54.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.92. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.94. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $42.07 and a 52-week high of $66.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported $4.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.09 by ($0.55). The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a net margin of 15.39% and a return on equity of 20.59%. Brighthouse Financial’s revenue was down 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 20.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brighthouse Financial Company Profile

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.