New York State Common Retirement Fund Buys 35,959 Shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM)

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) by 45.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 115,183 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,959 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions were worth $12,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 63.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,075,000 after purchasing an additional 11,236 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 560.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 9,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,286,000 after buying an additional 7,789 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 15.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,181,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,761,000 after acquiring an additional 423,456 shares during the period. Graphene Investments SAS grew its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Graphene Investments SAS now owns 27,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,093,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 19.7% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 218,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,669,000 after acquiring an additional 35,971 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.71, for a total transaction of $573,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,897,230.47. This trade represents a 16.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on BFAM. Baird R W upgraded shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of 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. UBS Group lowered their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $148.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $127.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. One research 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.67.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE BFAM opened at $125.02 on Tuesday. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.59 and a 1-year high of $141.90. The company has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.09 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $117.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.54. 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 (NYSE:BFAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts forecast that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.