Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) Receives $92.67 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $92.6667.

A number of analysts have issued reports on STRA shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Strategic Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Strategic Education in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Truist Financial lowered Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Strategic Education

In related news, CEO Raymond Karl Mcdonnell sold 38,840 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.35, for a total value of $2,926,594.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 106,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,012,116.20. This trade represents a 26.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Robert S. Silberman bought 718 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $80.82 per share, for a total transaction of $58,028.76. Following the acquisition, the chairman directly owned 319,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,851,893.40. This trade represents a 0.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,420 shares of company stock valued at $4,843,218. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Strategic Education by 305.3% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 616 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the period. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Strategic Education in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $678,000. Sankala Group LLC purchased a new position in Strategic Education during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Strategic Education during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,059,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Strategic Education by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 28,385 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Strategic Education Price Performance

Shares of STRA opened at $81.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.56. Strategic Education has a one year low of $72.17 and a one year high of $93.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.85.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The health services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $311.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.27 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Strategic Education will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

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

Strategic Education Company Profile

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.