StockNews.com Downgrades Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of 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. Baird R W raised shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $137.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.25.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BFAM opened at $116.33 on Wednesday. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a twelve month low of $94.83 and a twelve month high of $141.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.06. The company has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a PE ratio of 58.46 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last announced its 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 net margin of 4.44% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The business had revenue of $719.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. Bright Horizons Family Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3.01 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.71, for a total transaction of $573,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,897,230.47. The trade was a 16.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFAM. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 15.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the second quarter valued at about $28,995,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 64.1% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 570,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,792,000 after acquiring an additional 222,823 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 174.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the third quarter valued at about $13,639,000.

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.