Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. $BFAM Shares Sold by Liontrust Investment Partners LLP

Key Points

• Liontrust Investment Partners LLP reduced its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. by 7.6%, owning 616,067 shares valued at approximately $78.27 million after the sale.
• Bright Horizons reported earnings of $1.07 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, with revenues of $731.57 million, reflecting a 9.2% year-over-year increase.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Bright Horizons, with one sell rating, three holds, and five buys, while the consensus price target has been set at $137.75.

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP trimmed its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM - Free Report) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 616,067 shares of the company's stock after selling 50,809 shares during the period. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP owned approximately 1.08% of Bright Horizons Family Solutions worth $78,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 60.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,868,117 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 23.8% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 199.6% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 671,635 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,451,000 after purchasing an additional 447,457 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at about $50,653,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 1,081.6% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 354,241 shares of the company's stock worth $39,268,000 after buying an additional 324,262 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $106.00 to $100.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $146.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $137.75.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Performance

BFAM traded up $0.0460 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $122.3660. The company's stock had a trading volume of 554,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 748,698. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. The company's fifty day moving average price is $118.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.07. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a 52-week low of $103.75 and a 52-week high of $141.90. The company has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.12 and a beta of 1.34.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.07. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a return on equity of 15.12% and a net margin of 6.34%.The business had revenue of $731.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $724.32 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.150-4.250 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.99, for a total value of $128,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 28,449 shares in the company, valued at $3,669,636.51. This trade represents a 3.40% 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. Also, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.10, for a total transaction of $360,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,189,783.30. This represents a 14.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,282 shares of company stock worth $2,212,923 in the last ninety days. 1.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.