Brokerages Set Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) Price Target at $92.67

Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $92.6667.

STRA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Truist Financial downgraded Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $95.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research raised Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Monday, January 26th.

Strategic Education Trading Down 0.0%

Strategic Education stock opened at $83.45 on Tuesday. Strategic Education has a 1-year low of $72.17 and a 1-year high of $93.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.87. The company has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.56.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The health services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $311.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $322.29 million. Strategic Education had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 8.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Strategic Education will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is 44.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Robert S. Silberman acquired 718 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $80.82 per share, with a total value of $58,028.76. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 319,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,851,893.40. The trade was a 0.22% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Raymond Karl Mcdonnell sold 38,840 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.35, for a total transaction of $2,926,594.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 106,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,012,116.20. The trade was a 26.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 62,420 shares of company stock worth $4,843,218. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Strategic Education

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bastion Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Strategic Education in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,175,000. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. boosted its position in Strategic Education by 155.7% during the third quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. now owns 234,719 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $20,188,000 after purchasing an additional 142,915 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 158.3% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 25,438 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $2,188,000 after purchasing an additional 15,588 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 56.8% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 262,035 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $22,307,000 after purchasing an additional 94,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments bought a new position in shares of Strategic Education in the second quarter valued at about $325,000. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

About Strategic Education

Strategic Education, Inc is a publicly traded higher education services holding company headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. Through its primary operating subsidiaries, Strayer University and Capella University, the company delivers degree programs and professional development opportunities to working adults. Its offerings span undergraduate and graduate degrees, certificates, continuing education, and workforce training in fields such as business, technology, health services, education, and public administration.

Strayer University, with a network of physical campuses across the United States complemented by an online platform, provides associate’s through doctoral degrees designed to accommodate non-traditional students.