Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) Stock Rating Lowered by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $17.00 price objective on the stock.

Laureate Education Price Performance

Laureate Education stock opened at $14.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.31. Laureate Education has a 12-month low of $12.32 and a 12-month high of $16.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $275.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $269.35 million. Laureate Education had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 8.19%. Laureate Education’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Laureate Education will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Corro Pedro Del sold 5,957 shares of Laureate Education stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.31, for a total transaction of $97,158.67. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $762,149.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Ian Kendell Snow sold 2,114,928 shares of Laureate Education stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.64, for a total transaction of $30,962,545.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Corro Pedro Del sold 5,957 shares of Laureate Education stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.31, for a total transaction of $97,158.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 46,729 shares in the company, valued at $762,149.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,122,190 shares of company stock worth $31,080,297 in the last ninety days. 2.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP increased its stake in Laureate Education by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 923 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Laureate Education by 24.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Laureate Education by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 7,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 955 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Laureate Education in the first quarter valued at $151,000. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new position in Laureate Education in the fourth quarter valued at $195,000. 96.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Laureate Education Company Profile

Laureate Education, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers higher education programs and services to students through a network of universities and higher education institutions. The company provides a range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the areas of business and management, medicine and health sciences, and engineering and information technology through campus-based, online, and hybrid programs.