Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Stock Holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,944 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions were worth $843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BFAM. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 102.2% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $176,000. Sfmg LLC bought a new position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $210,000. Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $343,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BFAM shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $94.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $103.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $93.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Bright Horizons Family Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bright Horizons Family Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.38.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BFAM opened at $106.09 on Tuesday. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.65 and a 12-month high of $119.21. The company has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of 83.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 3.07%. The company had revenue of $615.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $588.63 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other Bright Horizons Family Solutions news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.88, for a total transaction of $59,328.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 38,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,831,896.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 600 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.88, for a total transaction of $59,328.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 38,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,831,896.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth J. Boland sold 15,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 89,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,237,365.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,740 shares of company stock worth $1,996,191 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

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.