Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $137.67.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BFAM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $162.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $155.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $127.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $148.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other Bright Horizons Family Solutions news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.74, for a total transaction of $311,850.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,757 shares in the company, valued at $2,838,708.18. This represents a 9.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.69, for a total transaction of $124,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 33,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,170,755.81. The trade was a 2.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 79.9% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 322 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Global Financial Private Client LLC raised its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 244.2% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BFAM opened at $116.32 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $123.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.99. The stock has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a PE ratio of 48.47 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a 52-week low of $100.59 and a 52-week high of $141.90.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.03). Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 5.22%. Research analysts forecast that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Company Profile

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.