648,104 Shares in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 648,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,842,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.11% of Bright Horizons Family Solutions as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,546,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,141,000 after purchasing an additional 511,905 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $91,536,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 13,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,535,000 after buying an additional 1,136 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $415,000. Finally, Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 50.2% in the 4th quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 73,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,159,000 after acquiring an additional 24,590 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 22,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,838,708.18. This trade represents a 9.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,000 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.69, for a total value of $124,690.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 33,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Price Performance

NYSE:BFAM opened at $128.49 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.59 and a 12-month high of $141.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $125.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.54 and a beta of 1.49.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BFAM. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $127.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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 upgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.67.

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.