Erste Asset Management GmbH Invests $961,000 in Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM)

Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $961,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFAM. 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 valued at $4,075,000 after buying an additional 11,236 shares in the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the third quarter worth $13,639,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 15.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 423,456 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position 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 valued at $30,669,000 after purchasing an additional 35,971 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 7.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 784,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,395,000 after purchasing an additional 51,024 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BFAM shares. Baird R W raised shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Robert W. Baird upgraded 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $125.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $142.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.50.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Price Performance

Shares of BFAM stock opened at $115.61 on Wednesday. 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 market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a PE ratio of 58.10 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $125.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.69. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $141.90.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $719.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $713.16 million. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a net margin of 4.44% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. Analysts predict that Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Bright Horizons Family Solutions

In other news, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.94, for a total value of $109,552.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,248,563.50. This represents a 2.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

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.