Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on BFAM. Baird R W raised shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $162.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $148.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.56.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Price Performance

Shares of BFAM stock traded down $1.32 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $120.45. The stock had a trading volume of 533,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 384,269. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.53 and a beta of 1.45. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a one year low of $94.83 and a one year high of $141.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $114.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.47.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.05. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a net margin of 4.44% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The company had revenue of $719.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $713.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Bright Horizons Family Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In related news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.71, for a total value of $573,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,257 shares in the company, valued at $2,897,230.47. The trade was a 16.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BFAM. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,181,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,761,000 after purchasing an additional 423,456 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 174.0% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 344,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,260,000 after acquiring an additional 218,707 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 114.8% in the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 209,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,178,000 after acquiring an additional 111,760 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the third quarter worth approximately $11,780,000. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 294,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,682,000 after purchasing an additional 57,575 shares in the last quarter.

About Bright Horizons Family Solutions

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.