Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Raises Stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) by 14.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 251,125 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 32,266 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions were worth $27,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFAM. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $833,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $601,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 37.2% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,000 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.69, for a total transaction of $124,690.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 33,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,170,755.81. The trade was a 2.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,838,708.18. This trade represents a 9.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Down 1.8 %

BFAM opened at $126.63 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $124.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.02. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.59 and a twelve month high of $141.90. The company has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a PE ratio of 52.76 and a beta of 1.50. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share 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 expect that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BFAM. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $155.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $148.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $162.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.67.

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.