California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 92,127 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,080 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions were worth $10,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BFAM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,442,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,332,000 after acquiring an additional 101,151 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,546,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $393,141,000 after purchasing an additional 511,905 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,370,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,752,000 after purchasing an additional 532,644 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased 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 worth $140,027,000 after buying an additional 3,970 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 924,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,633,000 after buying an additional 7,597 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $155.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $148.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $162.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bright Horizons Family Solutions has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.67.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Trading Down 5.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BFAM opened at $114.39 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a PE ratio of 47.66 and a beta of 1.49. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.59 and a 12-month high of $141.90. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.26.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.03). Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a net margin of 5.22% and a return on equity of 13.63%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In related news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.74, for a total transaction of $311,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,838,708.18. This represents a 9.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.69, for a total value of $124,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 33,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,170,755.81. This represents a 2.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.