Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

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

Insider Activity at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other Bright Horizons Family Solutions news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,897,230.47. This trade represents a 16.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 423,456 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the second quarter worth about $28,995,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 174.0% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 344,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,260,000 after buying an additional 218,707 shares in the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the third quarter worth about $13,639,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the third quarter worth about $11,780,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. 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 on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Baird R W raised shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $162.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $155.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bright Horizons Family Solutions presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.56.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BFAM traded down $2.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $122.55. The company had a trading volume of 400,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 336,364. 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 has a twelve month low of $94.83 and a twelve month high of $141.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.58 and a beta of 1.44.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $719.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $713.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3 earnings per share for the current 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.