Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) Stock Price

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has reduced its target price for Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) from $106.00 to $100.00, indicating a potential downside of 12.94% from the stock's previous close.
• Jefferies Financial Group also downgraded the stock from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, lowering its price target from $146.00 to $135.00.
• Bright Horizons has seen a year-over-year revenue growth of 6.9%, reporting $665.53 million in revenue during its latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM - Free Report) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $100.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the stock.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $146.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $138.00.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of BFAM stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $113.52. The stock had a trading volume of 264,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 471,964. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a PE ratio of 41.00 and a beta of 1.30. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a twelve month low of $103.75 and a twelve month high of $141.90. The stock's 50 day moving average is $121.37 and its 200 day moving average is $122.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $665.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $664.34 million. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a return on equity of 14.62% and a net margin of 5.91%. The company's revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.49, for a total transaction of $321,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,257 shares in the company, valued at $2,602,821.93. The trade was a 10.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth J. Boland sold 3,500 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.16, for a total transaction of $462,560.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 80,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,594,209.92. This trade represents a 4.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,282 shares of company stock valued at $1,723,633. Company insiders own 1.21% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,868,117 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 23.8% in 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 during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 3.1% in 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 during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 1.1% in 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 during the period.

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.