Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Baird R W

Baird R W upgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning,Zacks.com reports.

BFAM has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $137.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $142.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $145.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $125.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.50.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Performance

BFAM opened at $113.08 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $129.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.82 and a beta of 1.49. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a 1-year low of $86.79 and a 1-year high of $141.90.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $719.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $713.16 million. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 4.44%. The company’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other Bright Horizons Family Solutions news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 800 shares of the business’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 value of $109,552.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,248,563.50. The trade was a 2.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bright Horizons Family Solutions

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BFAM. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 141.6% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 14,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,676,000 after purchasing an additional 8,666 shares during the period. BOKF NA grew its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 4,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 1st quarter worth $981,000. Comerica Bank lifted its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 148,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,787,000 after acquiring an additional 10,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the first quarter valued at about $278,000.

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.