Perdoceo Education Corporation (NASDAQ:PRDO) Holdings Raised by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Perdoceo Education Corporation (NASDAQ:PRDO) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 327,431 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,468 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.50% of Perdoceo Education worth $8,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Perdoceo Education by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,296,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,251,000 after purchasing an additional 241,147 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 14,591 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Perdoceo Education in the 4th quarter worth $47,129,000. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC grew its position in Perdoceo Education by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 1,739,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,042,000 after purchasing an additional 85,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Perdoceo Education by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,627,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,072,000 after purchasing an additional 79,686 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Perdoceo Education

In related news, SVP Julia A. Leeman sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.07, for a total transaction of $160,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $951,741.39. The trade was a 14.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP John Robert Kline sold 71,254 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.75, for a total transaction of $2,262,314.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 75,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,408,809. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 144,565 shares of company stock valued at $4,550,566 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.11% of the company’s stock.

Perdoceo Education Price Performance

Shares of Perdoceo Education stock opened at $29.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 4.43 and a current ratio of 4.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.26. Perdoceo Education Corporation has a twelve month low of $20.55 and a twelve month high of $34.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.83.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.04. Perdoceo Education had a net margin of 20.91% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The firm had revenue of $213.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.97 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Perdoceo Education Corporation will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. Perdoceo Education’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on PRDO shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Perdoceo Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Barrington Research raised their price target on shares of Perdoceo Education from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th.

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.