Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, a growth of 11.5% from the May 31st total of 1,040,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 310,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BFAM. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com raised Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $108.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $107.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.43.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock traded up $1.94 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $110.06. The stock had a trading volume of 159,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 342,092. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a 1 year low of $71.65 and a 1 year high of $119.21.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $622.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $614.60 million. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a return on equity of 12.00% and a net margin of 3.34%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bright Horizons Family Solutions news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.95, for a total value of $435,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,855 shares in the company, valued at $3,470,602.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Bright Horizons Family Solutions news, CAO Jason Janoff sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.79, for a total value of $682,740.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,018,989.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.95, for a total value of $435,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 31,855 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,470,602.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 26,647 shares of company stock worth $2,978,550. 1.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BFAM. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 26,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,164,000 after buying an additional 5,457 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 159.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $705,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 269,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,975,000 after purchasing an additional 13,925 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 23,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 25,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,054,000 after purchasing an additional 130 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.