CW Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 140,470 Laureate Education $LAUR

CW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 140,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,284,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Laureate Education by 3.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 367,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,513,000 after acquiring an additional 13,620 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC bought a new position in shares of Laureate Education during the 2nd quarter valued at about $488,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,060,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,081,000 after purchasing an additional 387,567 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 911,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,314,000 after purchasing an additional 20,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,489,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,455,000 after purchasing an additional 74,060 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.27% of the company’s stock.

Laureate Education Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LAUR opened at $31.04 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $30.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.73. The company has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.66 and a beta of 0.60. Laureate Education has a 12-month low of $17.82 and a 12-month high of $32.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $400.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.77 million. Laureate Education had a return on equity of 22.99% and a net margin of 12.86%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Laureate Education will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laureate Education announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAUR has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Laureate Education from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Laureate Education from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Laureate Education in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.67.

About Laureate Education

Laureate Education, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers higher education programs and services to students through a network of universities and higher education institutions. The company provides a range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the areas of business and management, medicine and health sciences, and engineering and information technology through campus-based, online, and hybrid programs.