Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) by 63.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,078 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,236 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Bright Horizons Family Solutions worth $4,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BFAM. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 9.2% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 150,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,140,000 after acquiring an additional 12,724 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 15.4% in 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. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 9,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,330,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. grew its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 14,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,992,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BFAM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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 note on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group lifted their price target on 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Baird R W raised Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 800 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 31,025 shares in the company, valued at $4,248,563.50. This trade represents a 2.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Price Performance

NYSE:BFAM opened at $115.63 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $126.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.52. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.79 and a 1-year high of $141.90. The firm has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.11 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last issued 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. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a net margin of 4.44% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The business had revenue of $719.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 3 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.