Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Shares Gap Down to $120.83

Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $120.83, but opened at $112.81. Strategic Education shares last traded at $109.99, with a volume of 13,325 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STRA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barrington Research upped their target price on Strategic Education from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Strategic Education from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Strategic Education from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.25.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $112.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.49.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The health services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.14. Strategic Education had a net margin of 9.84% and a return on equity of 7.52%. The firm had revenue of $312.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.16 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. Strategic Education’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Strategic Education, Inc. will post 4.96 EPS for the current year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert R. Grusky sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.50, for a total transaction of $42,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,389,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Strategic Education

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Strategic Education in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 2,650.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 330 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Strategic Education during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in Strategic Education in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in Strategic Education in the fourth quarter valued at $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

About Strategic Education

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.