Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) Holdings Boosted by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) by 37.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,870 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,259 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.09% of Perdoceo Education worth $1,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 227.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 223.6% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,239 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Perdoceo Education during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 1,355 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Perdoceo Education

In other Perdoceo Education news, SVP Elise Baskel sold 17,818 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.16, for a total value of $430,482.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 93,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,255,432.64. The trade was a 16.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michele A. Peppers sold 4,038 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $129,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 45,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,468,032. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 127,820 shares of company stock worth $3,296,615 over the last quarter. 2.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Perdoceo Education Price Performance

NASDAQ PRDO opened at $31.35 on Monday. Perdoceo Education Co. has a 12 month low of $20.23 and a 12 month high of $32.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.84 and a quick ratio of 5.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 14.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.68.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.04. Perdoceo Education had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 16.85%. The business had revenue of $213.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Perdoceo Education’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PRDO shares. Barrington Research lifted their price target on Perdoceo Education from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut Perdoceo Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th.

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.