Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Strategic Education from $95.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Barrington Research cut their price objective on shares of Strategic Education from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Strategic Education from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Strategic Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Strategic Education currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.00.

Strategic Education Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STRA opened at $81.58 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.51. Strategic Education has a one year low of $69.70 and a one year high of $91.13. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $80.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.44.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Strategic Education news, Chairman Robert S. Silberman acquired 718 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the purchase, the chairman owned 319,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,851,893.40. This represents a 0.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael Thawley acquired 665 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the director directly owned 12,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,717.34. This trade represents a 5.79% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,580 shares of company stock worth $1,005,814. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Strategic Education by 62,355.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,467,702 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $117,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465,352 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Strategic Education by 0.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,458,740 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $121,017,000 after purchasing an additional 7,346 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Strategic Education by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 881,089 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $70,663,000 after buying an additional 6,737 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Strategic Education by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 609,040 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $48,853,000 after buying an additional 1,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 30.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 454,509 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $37,706,000 after buying an additional 106,487 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.