American Century Companies Inc. Buys 79,686 Shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,627,190 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 79,686 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 2.48% of Perdoceo Education worth $43,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,803,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,114,000 after acquiring an additional 33,092 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in Perdoceo Education by 41.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,209,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,379,000 after purchasing an additional 352,470 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Perdoceo Education by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 950,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,748 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 582,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,948,000 after purchasing an additional 16,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Perdoceo Education in the 3rd quarter valued at $9,374,000. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Ashish R. Ghia sold 6,236 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $155,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 252,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,303,250. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Robert Kline sold 12,148 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total value of $313,296.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 130,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,363,144.95. The trade was a 8.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,658 shares of company stock valued at $2,188,914 in the last ninety days. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PRDO. Barrington Research upped their price objective on Perdoceo Education from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Perdoceo Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th.

Perdoceo Education Stock Performance

NASDAQ PRDO opened at $25.69 on Friday. Perdoceo Education Co. has a fifty-two week low of $16.56 and a fifty-two week high of $29.84. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.68, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 5.45 and a current ratio of 4.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $26.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.21.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 16.85% and a net margin of 21.66%. The business had revenue of $176.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.12 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Perdoceo Education’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.64%.

About Perdoceo Education

Perdoceo Education Corporation provides postsecondary education through online, campus-based, and blended learning programs in the United States. It operates in two segments, Colorado Technical University and The American InterContinental University System. The Colorado Technical University segment offers academic programs, such as business and management, nursing, healthcare management, computer science, engineering, information systems and technology, project management, cybersecurity, and criminal justice.