Northern Trust Corp Boosts Position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM - Free Report) by 17.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 314,070 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 46,238 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.54% of Bright Horizons Family Solutions worth $34,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,958,538 shares of the company's stock valued at $549,654,000 after buying an additional 1,868,117 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 4th quarter worth about $91,536,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 4th quarter worth about $79,578,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 4th quarter worth about $71,842,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 29.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 532,644 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BFAM shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group decreased their target price 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 increased 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 research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $155.00 to $132.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.33.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE BFAM traded up $2.22 on Friday, reaching $124.54. 126,249 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 444,062. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of 51.89 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a one year low of $100.59 and a one year high of $141.90. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $121.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.18.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was 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 $4,170,755.81. This trade represents a 2.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 22,757 shares in the company, valued at $2,838,708.18. This trade represents a 9.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $561,900. 1.22% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.