Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR) Short Interest Down 20.4% in January

Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,010,000 shares, a drop of 20.4% from the December 31st total of 3,780,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 615,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Laureate Education from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

Laureate Education Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Laureate Education stock opened at $18.94 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $18.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. Laureate Education has a one year low of $12.52 and a one year high of $19.98.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $368.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.80 million. Laureate Education had a net margin of 15.76% and a return on equity of 27.13%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Laureate Education will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Laureate Education

In related news, Director Corro Pedro Del sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.58, for a total transaction of $489,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 29,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $581,251.88. This trade represents a 45.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Laureate Education

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Laureate Education by 207.4% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 824,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,703,000 after acquiring an additional 556,573 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,145,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,638,000 after purchasing an additional 80,570 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Laureate Education in the fourth quarter valued at about $666,000. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Laureate Education by 225.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,513,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,746,000 after buying an additional 1,741,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cape Ann Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Laureate Education during the third quarter worth about $17,412,000. 96.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Laureate Education

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.