Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 2,944 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of STRA. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Strategic Education during the fourth quarter worth about $73,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Strategic Education in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Strategic Education in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Strategic Education during the third quarter worth $278,000. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Strategic Education Stock Down 0.9 %

STRA stock opened at $121.30 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $105.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.45. Strategic Education, Inc. has a one year low of $64.53 and a one year high of $123.62.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The health services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.51. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 6.78% and a net margin of 8.70%. The business had revenue of $290.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.02 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Strategic Education, Inc. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.87%.

Insider Transactions at Strategic Education

In related news, CEO Raymond Karl Mcdonnell sold 12,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.99, for a total transaction of $1,230,591.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 161,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,488,850.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Strategic Education news, CEO Raymond Karl Mcdonnell sold 12,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.99, for a total transaction of $1,230,591.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 161,359 shares in the company, valued at $15,488,850.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert R. Grusky sold 250 shares of Strategic Education stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.55, for a total value of $29,637.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,695 shares in the company, valued at $1,386,442.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,595 shares of company stock worth $1,715,264 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of Strategic Education from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Strategic Education from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Barrington Research lifted their price target on shares of Strategic Education from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Strategic Education from $104.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $133.50.

Strategic Education 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.