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

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 895,600 shares, a decline of 6.3% from the December 15th total of 955,900 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 590,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BFAM shares. 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. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. 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 for the company in a research report on Friday, December 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.71, for a total transaction of $573,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,897,230.47. This represents a 16.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 68.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Down 0.2 %

BFAM traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $117.47. 256,725 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 369,123. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a 1 year low of $94.83 and a 1 year high of $141.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $112.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $123.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a PE ratio of 59.03 and a beta of 1.44.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $719.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $713.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. Bright Horizons Family Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3.01 EPS for the current 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.