Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 1,350 Shares of Strategic Education Inc. $STRA

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its position in shares of Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,188 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 1,350 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Strategic Education were worth $867,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 17.2% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 44,387 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $3,727,000 after purchasing an additional 6,513 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in Strategic Education in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,220,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Strategic Education during the 2nd quarter valued at $312,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 16.9% during the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 12,980 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wakefield Asset Management LLLP boosted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 51.0% in the second quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 12,617 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 4,260 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STRA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Monday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Strategic Education in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Strategic Education presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.33.

Strategic Education Price Performance

STRA stock opened at $78.08 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.63. Strategic Education Inc. has a one year low of $72.25 and a one year high of $104.51.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The health services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.33. Strategic Education had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 7.52%. The firm had revenue of $319.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $315.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Strategic Education Inc. will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.90%.

Strategic Education Company 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.