StockNews.com Downgrades Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) to Buy

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Separately, Barrington Research raised their price objective on shares of Perdoceo Education from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Perdoceo Education Trading Up 0.4 %

Perdoceo Education stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $27.33. The company had a trading volume of 267,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 377,281. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.78. The company has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.06. Perdoceo Education has a fifty-two week low of $16.12 and a fifty-two week high of $29.47.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 20.42%. The company had revenue of $169.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Perdoceo Education’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Perdoceo Education will post 2.27 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP John Robert Kline sold 12,148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total transaction of $313,296.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 130,405 shares in the company, valued at $3,363,144.95. This trade represents a 8.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Patrick W. Gross sold 3,400 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.74, for a total value of $90,916.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 69,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,862,039.90. This represents a 4.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,541,396 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Perdoceo Education

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PRDO. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 1,306.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Perdoceo Education in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Perdoceo Education during the 3rd quarter valued at about $114,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Perdoceo Education during the third quarter worth approximately $133,000. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Perdoceo Education

Perdoceo Education Corporation provides postsecondary education through online, campus-based, and blended learning programs in the United States. It operates in two segments, Colorado Technical University and The American InterContinental University System. The Colorado Technical University segment offers academic programs, such as business and management, nursing, healthcare management, computer science, engineering, information systems and technology, project management, cybersecurity, and criminal justice.