Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Increases Position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) by 28.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,512 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $93,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 194.8% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 926.8% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $155.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $148.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $127.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.33.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Up 1.9%

Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock opened at $122.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.18. The company has a market cap of $7.00 billion, a PE ratio of 50.94 and a beta of 1.32. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.59 and a fifty-two week high of $141.90.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $665.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $664.34 million. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 5.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 33,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,170,755.81. The trade was a 2.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.74, for a total value of $311,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,838,708.18. This trade represents a 9.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $561,900. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions 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.