Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Shares Gap Up to $96.71

Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $96.71, but opened at $103.98. Strategic Education shares last traded at $99.90, with a volume of 11,447 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Strategic Education from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Strategic Education from $104.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Strategic Education from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com cut Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.50.

Strategic Education Stock Up 2.5 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.35, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.50.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The health services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.34. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 5.52% and a net margin of 6.16%. The company had revenue of $302.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Strategic Education, Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. Strategic Education’s payout ratio is currently 82.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Strategic Education news, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson sold 3,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $356,262.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 71,770 shares in the company, valued at $6,886,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Strategic Education news, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson sold 3,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $356,262.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 71,770 shares in the company, valued at $6,886,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Raymond Karl Mcdonnell sold 12,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.99, for a total value of $1,230,591.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 161,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,488,850.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,087,347 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $163,482,000 after purchasing an additional 484,022 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 155.7% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 396,049 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $29,803,000 after purchasing an additional 241,168 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Strategic Education in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,494,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 6,377.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 178,182 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $16,459,000 after purchasing an additional 175,431 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 7.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,225,778 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $199,942,000 after purchasing an additional 157,880 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Strategic Education Company Profile

Strategic Education, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides education services through campus-based and online post-secondary education, and programs to develop job-ready skills. The company operates through U.S. Higher Education, Australia/New Zealand, and Education Technology Services segments. It operates Strayer University that offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business, criminal justice, education, health services, information technology, and public administration at physical campuses located in the eastern United States, as well as through online; non-degree web and mobile application development courses through Hackbright Academy and Devmountain; and MBA online through its Jack Welch Management Institute.