Short Interest in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) Rises By 20.5%

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 860,600 shares, a growth of 20.5% from the February 13th total of 713,900 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 480,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE BFAM traded down $1.94 on Tuesday, hitting $127.19. 299,575 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 406,654. 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 $122.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.53. The company has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.99 and a beta of 1.50. 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 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 analysts expect that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of 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. Baird R W raised Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.67.

Insider Activity at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In related news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.74, for a total value of $311,850.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,757 shares in the company, valued at $2,838,708.18. This represents a 9.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 1,000 shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised 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 valued at $549,654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868,117 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $91,536,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions in the fourth quarter worth approximately $79,578,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the fourth quarter worth $71,842,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 532,644 shares in the last quarter.

About Bright Horizons Family Solutions

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.