Short Interest in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) Increases By 48.6%

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 955,900 shares, a growth of 48.6% from the November 30th total of 643,300 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 579,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Down 1.7 %

BFAM traded down $1.90 during trading on Monday, reaching $108.63. The stock had a trading volume of 15,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 408,069. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $116.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.13. The company has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.59 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a one year low of $91.61 and a one year high of $141.90.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $719.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently 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 cut their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Baird R W upgraded Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.94, for a total transaction of $109,552.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,248,563.50. This represents a 2.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 5,000 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 25,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,897,230.47. This represents a 16.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFAM. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 850.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 342 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 73.3% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during 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.