DF Dent & Co. Inc. Decreases Holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. reduced its position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,284 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,717 shares during the quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. owned about 0.21% of Bright Horizons Family Solutions worth $13,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 62.8% during the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 7,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $787,000 after buying an additional 2,739 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $679,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 45.4% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 115,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,768,000 after acquiring an additional 35,959 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,212,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 560.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 9,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 7,789 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $148.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on 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. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $127.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.69, for a total transaction of $124,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 22,757 shares in the company, valued at $2,838,708.18. This represents a 9.90 % 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 company insiders.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Price Performance

NYSE:BFAM opened at $128.49 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $125.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.66. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.59 and a 1-year high of $141.90. The firm has a market cap 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

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.