Russell Investments Group Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) by 22.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,067 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,253 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.07% of Perdoceo Education worth $1,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Perdoceo Education by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,817,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,129,000 after buying an additional 14,591 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Perdoceo Education by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,627,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,072,000 after purchasing an additional 79,686 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 41.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,209,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,379,000 after buying an additional 352,470 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Perdoceo Education by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 950,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,162,000 after buying an additional 5,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 742,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,650,000 after buying an additional 160,162 shares during the period. 93.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on PRDO shares. Barrington Research lifted their price objective on Perdoceo Education from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Perdoceo Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Perdoceo Education Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PRDO opened at $25.27 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.77 and a 200 day moving average of $25.72. Perdoceo Education Co. has a twelve month low of $17.35 and a twelve month high of $29.84. The company has a quick ratio of 5.45, a current ratio of 4.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

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

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Perdoceo Education’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Perdoceo Education

In related news, CFO Ashish R. Ghia sold 35,677 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.83, for a total value of $921,536.91. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 204,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,281,640.91. The trade was a 14.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Elise Baskel sold 17,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.16, for a total transaction of $430,482.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 93,354 shares in the company, valued at $2,255,432.64. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,691 shares of company stock valued at $2,774,669. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

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.