Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,442,777 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 101,151 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.36% of Bright Horizons Family Solutions worth $603,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 37.2% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 535 shares of the company's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity 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 value of $124,690.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 33,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,170,755.81. This represents a 2.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions 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 sale, the director now directly owns 22,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,838,708.18. This represents a 9.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $162.00 to $142.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $155.00 to $132.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $137.67.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Performance

Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock traded down $6.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $114.39. The stock had a trading volume of 779,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 427,065. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a PE ratio of 47.66 and a beta of 1.49. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.59 and a 12 month high of $141.90. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $125.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.36.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 3.61 earnings per share 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.