BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires New Stake in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 24,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $637,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,296,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,251,000 after acquiring an additional 241,147 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,817,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,129,000 after acquiring an additional 14,591 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Perdoceo Education by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,627,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,072,000 after buying an additional 79,686 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted 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 worth $32,379,000 after buying an additional 352,470 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 5,748 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Perdoceo Education

In other Perdoceo Education news, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 38,984 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.66, for a total value of $961,345.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 644,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,882,199.02. The trade was a 5.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Elise Baskel sold 17,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.16, for a total value of $430,482.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 93,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,255,432.64. This represents a 16.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 127,820 shares of company stock worth $3,296,615. 2.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRDO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barrington Research increased their target price on Perdoceo Education from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Perdoceo Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

Perdoceo Education Stock Performance

NASDAQ PRDO opened at $31.03 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.92. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 4.84, a quick ratio of 5.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Perdoceo Education Co. has a twelve month low of $20.23 and a twelve month high of $32.03.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $213.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.97 million. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 16.85% and a net margin of 21.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Perdoceo Education’s payout ratio is currently 23.01%.

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.