Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $106.63.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BFAM shares. Barclays upgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $100.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $108.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $107.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Trading Up 6.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BFAM opened at $111.23 on Friday. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a 52-week low of $71.65 and a 52-week high of $119.21. The company has a market capitalization of $6.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a net margin of 3.34% and a return on equity of 12.14%. The business had revenue of $615.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $588.63 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $157,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,911,565. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,500 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $157,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,911,565. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth J. Boland sold 15,640 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.77, for a total transaction of $1,779,362.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,983 shares in the company, valued at $10,237,365.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bright Horizons Family Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the first quarter worth $241,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 5.9% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 52,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,994,000 after buying an additional 2,950 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 15.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $999,000 after buying an additional 1,147 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.8% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 163,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,499,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 22.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the period.

About Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc provides early education and childcare, back-up care, educational advisory, and other workplace solutions services for employers and families in the United States, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, and India. The company operates in three segments: Full Service Center-Based Child Care, Back-Up Care, and Educational Advisory and Other Services.