Needham Investment Management LLC Purchases 3,000 Shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM)

Needham Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) by 2.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 109,500 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Bright Horizons Family Solutions accounts for about 1.2% of Needham Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Needham Investment Management LLC owned about 0.19% of Bright Horizons Family Solutions worth $15,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BFAM. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 15.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,181,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,761,000 after purchasing an additional 423,456 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,995,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 64.1% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 570,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,792,000 after buying an additional 222,823 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 174.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 344,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,260,000 after acquiring an additional 218,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the third quarter valued at about $13,639,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BFAM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $145.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $125.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $142.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $137.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.50.

Insider Transactions at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.94, for a total value of $109,552.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 31,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,248,563.50. This represents a 2.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of BFAM stock remained flat at $115.43 during trading on Tuesday. The company had a trading volume of 31,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 392,243. The company has a market cap of $6.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.01 and a beta of 1.44. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.82 and a fifty-two week high of $141.90. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.64.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.05. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a net margin of 4.44% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The firm 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 company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.