American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . 207,496 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the previous session’s volume of 300,463 shares.The stock last traded at $51.8360 and had previously closed at $50.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on APEI. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of American Public Education in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded American Public Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on American Public Education from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Barrington Research boosted their price objective on American Public Education from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Lake Street Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of American Public Education in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.12.

American Public Education Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $52.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $910.36 million, a PE ratio of 26.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $174.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $173.73 million. American Public Education had a net margin of 6.13% and a return on equity of 14.02%. American Public Education has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.340-0.390 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that American Public Education, Inc. will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at American Public Education

In related news, SVP Thomas Beckett sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 52,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,817,288. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 10.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Public Education

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of APEI. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of American Public Education by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 28,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,540,000 after buying an additional 3,772 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of American Public Education by 2.3% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 181,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,743,000 after buying an additional 4,125 shares during the period. PVG Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of American Public Education by 502.3% during the first quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp now owns 42,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,220,000 after buying an additional 35,807 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new stake in American Public Education in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,240,000. Finally, Amundi acquired a new stake in American Public Education in the first quarter valued at approximately $385,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.62% of the company’s stock.

About American Public Education

American Public Education, Inc operates as a provider of online postsecondary education, offering degree and certificate programs through its wholly owned subsidiary, American Public University System (APUS). The company designs and delivers a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs in fields such as business administration, information technology, criminal justice, homeland security, health sciences, and education. Its curriculum is developed to meet the needs of working adults, military personnel, veterans and civilian students seeking flexible, career-relevant learning opportunities.

APUS is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and employs a proprietary online learning platform that supports asynchronous instruction, digital course materials and interactive learning tools.