Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $137.67.

Several analysts have weighed in on BFAM shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $127.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $155.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $148.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Insider Transactions at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,442,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,332,000 after buying an additional 101,151 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,868,117 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,546,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $393,141,000 after buying an additional 511,905 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 15.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,181,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,761,000 after buying an additional 423,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 29.0% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of BFAM stock opened at $127.19 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.61. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $100.59 and a fifty-two week high of $141.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $122.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $123.53. The company has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.99 and a beta of 1.50.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.03). Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a net margin of 5.22% and a return on equity of 13.63%. Analysts expect that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

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.