Perpetual Ltd Decreases Stock Position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM)

Perpetual Ltd lowered its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM - Free Report) by 49.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,051 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,835 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd's holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions were worth $671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BFAM. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 68.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 436 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.71, for a total transaction of $573,550.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,897,230.47. This represents a 16.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BFAM shares. Robert W. Baird raised Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $140.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Baird R W raised Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $145.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bright Horizons Family Solutions has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $138.25.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BFAM traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $117.42. 360,312 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 342,259. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.83 and a 52 week high of $141.90. 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 firm has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a PE ratio of 59.05 and a beta of 1.44. The company's 50 day moving average price is $112.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.06.

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 the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.