Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) Short Interest Update

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 860,600 shares, a growth of 20.5% from the February 13th total of 713,900 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 480,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on BFAM shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $127.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Baird R W upgraded Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $148.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.74, for a total value of $311,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,838,708.18. This represents a 9.90 % 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 this hyperlink. Also, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 33,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,170,755.81. This represents a 2.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bright Horizons Family Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,958,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868,117 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $91,536,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $79,578,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,842,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,370,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,752,000 after purchasing an additional 532,644 shares in the last quarter.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Trading Up 1.2 %

BFAM stock traded up $1.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $128.69. The stock had a trading volume of 358,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 406,418. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.53. 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 cap of $7.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.62 and a beta of 1.50. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a twelve month low of $100.59 and a twelve month high of $141.90.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.03). Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 5.22%. As a group, research analysts expect that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.