Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) Stock Price

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $102.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential downside of 7.04% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Baird R W upgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $145.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $142.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bright Horizons Family Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.75.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:BFAM opened at $109.73 on Thursday. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a 1 year low of $88.58 and a 1 year high of $141.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $121.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.78. The stock has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.14 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.05. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a net margin of 4.44% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The firm had revenue of $719.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $713.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.71, for a total transaction of $573,550.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,897,230.47. This represents a 16.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 800 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.94, for a total value of $109,552.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,248,563.50. This represents a 2.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the third quarter worth about $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 850.0% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 73.3% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter.

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.