First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 40,371 Shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM - Free Report) by 23.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 209,748 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 40,371 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.36% of Bright Horizons Family Solutions worth $23,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $91,536,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $79,578,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $71,842,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,370,336 shares of the company's stock worth $262,752,000 after purchasing an additional 532,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,546,606 shares of the company's stock worth $393,141,000 after purchasing an additional 511,905 shares during the last quarter.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of BFAM traded up $2.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $123.38. 389,042 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 441,456. The firm has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.41 and a beta of 1.31. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.59 and a 12-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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $122.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.74.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BFAM. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $127.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $148.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.74, for a total value of $311,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,757 shares in the company, valued at $2,838,708.18. The trade was a 9.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,000 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.69, for a total value of $124,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 33,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,170,755.81. The trade was 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.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions 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.