Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) Short Interest Up 37.1% in March

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,180,000 shares, a growth of 37.1% from the February 28th total of 860,600 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 422,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Insider Transactions at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BFAM. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 37.2% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on BFAM. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price 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 lowered their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $162.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 27th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $148.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bright Horizons Family Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.67.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock opened at $126.96 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $124.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.62. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a 1-year low of $100.59 and a 1-year high of $141.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $7.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.90 and a beta of 1.49.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.03). Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 5.22%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

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.