Robert W. Baird Upgrades Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) to “Outperform”

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $140.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $145.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $114.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $142.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $125.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $137.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bright Horizons Family Solutions currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.50.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Up 1.4 %

Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock opened at $114.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $128.51 and its 200-day moving average is $122.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.67 billion, a PE ratio of 57.58 and a beta of 1.49. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $86.79 and a fifty-two week high of $141.90.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.05. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 4.44%. The firm had revenue of $719.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $713.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other Bright Horizons Family Solutions news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.94, for a total value of $109,552.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,248,563.50. This trade represents a 2.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,356,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $607,242,000 after acquiring an additional 29,942 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,181,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,761,000 after purchasing an additional 423,456 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,068,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,832,000 after purchasing an additional 44,893 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 999,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,027,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 924,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,633,000 after buying an additional 7,597 shares in the last quarter.

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.