Short Interest in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) Increases By 37.1%

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) saw a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,180,000 shares, a growth of 37.1% from the February 28th total of 860,600 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 422,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE BFAM opened at $125.60 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $7.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.33 and a beta of 1.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a 52 week low of $100.59 and a 52 week high of $141.90.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 5.22%. Equities research analysts predict that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.74, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 9.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 2.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,958,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,654,000 after buying an additional 1,868,117 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 4th quarter worth about $91,536,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $79,578,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $71,842,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,370,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,752,000 after purchasing an additional 532,644 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BFAM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $155.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $162.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $127.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 22nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $148.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.67.

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.