JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,546,606 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 511,905 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.06% of Bright Horizons Family Solutions worth $393,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,536,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $79,578,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,370,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,752,000 after buying an additional 532,644 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 711,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,897,000 after buying an additional 162,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 114.8% in the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 209,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,178,000 after acquiring an additional 111,760 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BFAM. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $162.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $155.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $127.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bright Horizons Family Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.74, for a total transaction of $311,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,838,708.18. This represents a 9.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 in the company, valued at $4,170,755.81. The trade was a 2.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Down 1.8 %

BFAM opened at $126.63 on Friday. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.59 and a 12 month high of $141.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $124.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.91. The company has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.76 and a beta of 1.50.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.03). Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 5.22%. On average, equities analysts expect that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

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.