Stephens Inc. AR Trims Stock Holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM)

Stephens Inc. AR reduced its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,277 shares of the company’s stock after selling 231 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions were worth $363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 15.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,181,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,761,000 after acquiring an additional 423,456 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 999,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,027,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 924,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,633,000 after purchasing an additional 7,597 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 3.2% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 707,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,126,000 after purchasing an additional 21,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 575,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BFAM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $137.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $137.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group dropped their target price on 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. Robert W. Baird upgraded Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $162.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bright Horizons Family Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.33.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BFAM opened at $128.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.58 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.61. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a one year low of $100.59 and a one year high of $141.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.58.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.03). Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a net margin of 4.44% and a return on equity of 13.23%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 5,000 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,897,230.47. This trade represents a 16.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

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.