Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $145.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $125.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.75.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of BFAM opened at $109.70 on Wednesday. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a 12 month low of $91.61 and a 12 month high of $141.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $117.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a PE ratio of 55.13 and a beta of 1.44.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bright Horizons Family Solutions news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.71, for a total value of $573,550.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,897,230.47. This trade represents a 16.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.94, for a total transaction of $109,552.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,248,563.50. This trade represents a 2.51 % 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

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BFAM. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 68.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter.

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.