VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Trims Stock Holdings in Laureate Education $LAUR

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lessened its holdings in shares of Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) by 63.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,528 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,300 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Laureate Education were worth $900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LAUR. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,298,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,139,000 after buying an additional 30,808 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Laureate Education by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,272,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,506,000 after acquiring an additional 105,712 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Laureate Education by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,503,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,669,000 after acquiring an additional 458,202 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Laureate Education by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,400,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,753,000 after purchasing an additional 13,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 113.8% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,288,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,133,000 after purchasing an additional 685,998 shares in the last quarter. 96.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Laureate Education Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Laureate Education stock opened at $33.31 on Monday. Laureate Education has a 1 year low of $17.82 and a 1 year high of $34.37. The company has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.29.

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

Laureate Education declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Laureate Education from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Laureate Education in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Laureate Education from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

About Laureate Education

Laureate Education, Inc (NASDAQ: LAUR) is a leading global network of higher education institutions dedicated to providing undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs to a diverse student body. The company designs and delivers academic offerings through a combination of campus-based and online platforms, focusing on fields such as business, health sciences, engineering, education and hospitality management. By aligning its curriculum with regional workforce needs, Laureate aims to equip students with practical skills and industry insights that support career advancement and lifelong learning.

Through its network, Laureate operates a broad portfolio of universities and colleges, including both longstanding campus institutions and digitally native programs.