Laureate Education $LAUR Shares Bought by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 322,177 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,905 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.22% of Laureate Education worth $7,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Laureate Education by 11.8% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 6,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Laureate Education by 54.8% during the 2nd quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 6,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,443 shares during the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Laureate Education in the second quarter valued at about $178,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Laureate Education during the second quarter worth about $256,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 134.7% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 6,603 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Laureate Education from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. Zacks Research downgraded Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Laureate Education in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Laureate Education from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Laureate Education currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.67.

Laureate Education Stock Performance

Shares of Laureate Education stock opened at $30.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.15 and a 200 day moving average of $26.41. Laureate Education has a 12 month low of $17.82 and a 12 month high of $32.42.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $400.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.77 million. Laureate Education had a return on equity of 22.99% and a net margin of 12.86%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. Laureate Education has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Laureate Education will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Laureate Education announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Laureate Education

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.