Northern Trust Corp Raises Position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM)

Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 314,070 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,238 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.54% of Bright Horizons Family Solutions worth $34,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BFAM. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 60.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,868,117 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of 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 4th quarter worth approximately $79,578,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $71,842,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised 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 last quarter.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of BFAM opened at $121.97 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.82 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.61. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a one year low of $100.59 and a one year high of $141.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $122.23 and a 200 day moving average of $119.34.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.36, for a total value of $125,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,449 shares in the company, valued at $3,942,446.64. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.74, for a total value of $311,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,757 shares in the company, valued at $2,838,708.18. This trade represents a 9.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $561,900. Company insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $155.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $148.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bright Horizons Family Solutions currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.33.

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.