Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) Stock Position Reduced by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,883 shares of the company’s stock after selling 471 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions were worth $544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth $695,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 2.9% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 16,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 423.2% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 654 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 924,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,633,000 after buying an additional 7,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 24.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 19,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,693,000 after buying an additional 3,796 shares during the last quarter.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock opened at $112.46 on Monday. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a 12-month low of $92.07 and a 12-month high of $141.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.51 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.25. 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 (NYSE:BFAM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $719.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $713.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. Bright Horizons Family Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BFAM shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $145.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $137.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In related news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 5,000 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,897,230.47. The trade was a 16.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

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.