Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the ten research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $137.67.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BFAM. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $148.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $127.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $155.00 to $132.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bright Horizons Family Solutions news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.74, for a total value of $311,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,757 shares in the company, valued at $2,838,708.18. This represents a 9.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,000 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.69, for a total transaction of $124,690.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 33,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,170,755.81. This trade represents a 2.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.22% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,442,777 shares of the company's stock worth $603,332,000 after acquiring an additional 101,151 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,958,538 shares of the company's stock valued at $549,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868,117 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,546,606 shares of the company's stock worth $393,141,000 after buying an additional 511,905 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,370,336 shares of the company's stock valued at $262,752,000 after buying an additional 532,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,559,277 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,846,000 after purchasing an additional 69,940 shares during the last quarter.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock traded up $0.55 on Friday, hitting $117.27. The stock had a trading volume of 20,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,166. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $123.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.99. The stock has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.84 and a beta of 1.31. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a one year low of $100.59 and a one year high of $141.90.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 5.22%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

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.