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

Shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $141.13.

Several research firms have recently commented on BFAM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of 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 increased their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $104.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $142.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $114.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $125.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock opened at $111.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.86 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $132.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.49. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a twelve month low of $85.28 and a twelve month high of $141.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.61.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $719.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.16 million. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a net margin of 4.44% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.94, for a total value of $109,552.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,025 shares in the company, valued at $4,248,563.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,356,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $607,242,000 after acquiring an additional 29,942 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,181,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,761,000 after purchasing an additional 423,456 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,068,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,832,000 after purchasing an additional 44,893 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 7.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 784,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,395,000 after purchasing an additional 51,024 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 3.2% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 707,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,126,000 after buying an additional 21,935 shares during 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.