Pacer Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Strategic Education Inc. $STRA

Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 63,078 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,059,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of STRA. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Strategic Education by 62,355.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,467,702 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $117,710,000 after buying an additional 1,465,352 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 881,089 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $70,663,000 after acquiring an additional 6,737 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 609,040 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $48,853,000 after acquiring an additional 1,579 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 351,969 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $28,228,000 after acquiring an additional 12,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 332,767 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $28,621,000 after purchasing an additional 70,732 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael Thawley bought 665 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $72.71 per share, with a total value of $48,352.15. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 12,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,717.34. This trade represents a 5.79% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Christa Hokenson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $160,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 65,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,215,600. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barrington Research dropped their target price on shares of Strategic Education from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Strategic Education from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research cut Strategic Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Strategic Education presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $87.00.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

NASDAQ STRA opened at $76.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.42. Strategic Education Inc. has a one year low of $69.70 and a one year high of $88.50.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The health services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.51 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $305.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.81 million. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 10.21%.Strategic Education’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Strategic Education Inc. will post 7.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.40%.

Strategic Education Company Profile

Strategic Education, Inc is a publicly traded higher education services holding company headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. Through its primary operating subsidiaries, Strayer University and Capella University, the company delivers degree programs and professional development opportunities to working adults. Its offerings span undergraduate and graduate degrees, certificates, continuing education, and workforce training in fields such as business, technology, health services, education, and public administration.

Strayer University, with a network of physical campuses across the United States complemented by an online platform, provides associate’s through doctoral degrees designed to accommodate non-traditional students.