Corton Capital Inc. Purchases New Stake in Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR)

Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 13,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAUR. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Laureate Education by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 3,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Laureate Education by 48.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 6,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Laureate Education during the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Laureate Education by 112.8% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 12,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 6,455 shares during the period. 96.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Laureate Education Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of LAUR opened at $22.87 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. Laureate Education, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.60 and a 1 year high of $23.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 0.59.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $423.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $411.50 million. Laureate Education had a net margin of 18.92% and a return on equity of 32.35%. Analysts forecast that Laureate Education, Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Laureate Education

In other Laureate Education news, Director Ian Kendell Snow sold 520,831 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.47, for a total value of $9,098,917.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Laureate Education from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday.

Laureate Education Company Profile

Laureate Education, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers higher education programs and services to students through a network of universities and higher education institutions. The company provides a range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the areas of business and management, medicine and health sciences, and engineering and information technology through campus-based, online, and hybrid programs.