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

Shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $138.33.

BFAM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $127.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE BFAM traded down $2.16 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $125.89. 384,197 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 456,052. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.61. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a twelve month low of $100.59 and a twelve month high of $141.90. The company has a market cap of $7.21 billion, a PE ratio of 52.46 and a beta of 1.32. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $122.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.04.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.14. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 5.22%. The company had revenue of $665.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $664.34 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.69, for a total value of $124,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 33,449 shares in the company, valued at $4,170,755.81. This represents a 2.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.49, for a total value of $321,225.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,602,821.93. This represents a 10.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,782 shares of company stock worth $2,162,973 in the last three months. 1.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,442,777 shares of the company's stock valued at $603,332,000 after purchasing an additional 101,151 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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. boosted its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 23.8% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,391,997 shares of the company's stock valued at $557,959,000 after purchasing an additional 845,391 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 3.1% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,200,371 shares of the company's stock valued at $406,575,000 after purchasing an additional 95,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 1.1% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,589,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $328,908,000 after purchasing an additional 29,425 shares in the last quarter.

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.