Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Sunday.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on STRA. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Strategic Education from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Barrington Research dropped their price target on shares of Strategic Education from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Strategic Education from $95.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.00.

Strategic Education Trading Down 0.6%

STRA stock opened at $76.75 on Friday. Strategic Education has a 52 week low of $69.70 and a 52 week high of $93.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $80.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.42.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The health services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.09). Strategic Education had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 10.21%.The company had revenue of $305.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $329.81 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Strategic Education will post 7.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael Thawley bought 665 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $72.71 per share, with a total value of $48,352.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,717.34. The trade was a 5.79% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Robert S. Silberman bought 718 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $80.82 per share, for a total transaction of $58,028.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 319,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,851,893.40. This represents a 0.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,580 shares of company stock valued at $1,916,624. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bastion Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Strategic Education in the third quarter worth approximately $1,175,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Strategic Education by 302.6% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 63,667 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $5,106,000 after acquiring an additional 47,853 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Strategic Education by 438.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 61,531 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $4,935,000 after acquiring an additional 50,110 shares in the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Strategic Education during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,057,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Strategic Education by 15.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 119,538 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $10,281,000 after purchasing an additional 15,579 shares in the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.