Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given 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 brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $135.56.

Several brokerages have recently commented on BFAM. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird raised Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $140.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $137.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Baird R W raised Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Down 1.0 %

BFAM stock traded down $1.23 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $121.38. 287,874 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 365,794. The firm's 50 day moving average is $114.13 and its 200 day moving average is $124.45. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a twelve month low of $94.83 and a twelve month 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 firm has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.99 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Insider Transactions at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

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

Institutional Trading of Bright Horizons Family Solutions

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BFAM. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,181,050 shares of the company's stock worth $445,761,000 after buying an additional 423,456 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 999,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,027,000 after buying an additional 3,970 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 924,832 shares of the company's stock worth $129,633,000 after buying an additional 7,597 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 3.2% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 707,383 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,126,000 after acquiring an additional 21,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 575,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,631,000 after acquiring an additional 2,649 shares during the period.

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.