Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $118.99, but opened at $127.74. Bright Horizons Family Solutions shares last traded at $125.19, with a volume of 158,547 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BFAM has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. 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 for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $162.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 27th. Baird R W raised Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $137.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.33.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $115.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a PE ratio of 64.58 and a beta of 1.45.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 4.44% and a return on equity of 13.23%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.71, for a total transaction of $573,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,897,230.47. This trade represents a 16.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,958,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868,117 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the fourth quarter worth approximately $91,536,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the fourth quarter worth $79,578,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $71,842,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,370,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,752,000 after acquiring an additional 532,644 shares in the last quarter.

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.