Vestcor Inc Buys Shares of 2,922 Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA)

Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in shares of Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,922 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Marshfield Associates raised its holdings in Strategic Education by 0.5% during the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 1,829,622 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $169,332,000 after buying an additional 9,001 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 334.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 37,961 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $3,513,000 after acquiring an additional 29,220 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 256.5% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 7,956 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 5,724 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Strategic Education in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Strategic Education in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,635,000. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STRA opened at $99.01 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $93.49 and its 200-day moving average is $99.82. The company has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.59. Strategic Education, Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.11 and a 52-week high of $123.62.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The health services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $305.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $301.62 million. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 7.61% and a net margin of 10.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Strategic Education, Inc. will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on STRA shares. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Strategic Education from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.00.

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.