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

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $137.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $145.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price 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 decreased their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $137.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.25.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:BFAM opened at $119.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $112.18 and a 200 day moving average of $124.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.90 and a beta of 1.44. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a 52 week low of $94.83 and a 52 week high of $141.90. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $719.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $713.16 million. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a net margin of 4.44% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In related news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 5,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,257 shares in the company, valued at $2,897,230.47. This represents a 16.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bright Horizons Family Solutions

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 4th quarter worth $271,000. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $215,000. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $93,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 98,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,935,000 after acquiring an additional 14,583 shares in the last quarter.

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.