Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) gapped up prior to trading on Friday after StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $104.27, but opened at $111.02. Bright Horizons Family Solutions shares last traded at $108.94, with a volume of 121,963 shares traded.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $103.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $107.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $108.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Bright Horizons Family Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $100.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bright Horizons Family Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bright Horizons Family Solutions news, CFO Elizabeth J. Boland sold 15,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.77, for a total value of $1,779,362.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,983 shares in the company, valued at $10,237,365.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Elizabeth J. Boland sold 15,640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.77, for a total value of $1,779,362.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,983 shares in the company, valued at $10,237,365.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $157,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,911,565. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 102.2% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 653 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 120.2% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the last quarter.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.45 billion, a PE ratio of 78.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $615.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $588.63 million. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a net margin of 3.34% and a return on equity of 12.14%. Equities research analysts expect that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.