Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Stock Price Down 8.1% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) fell 8.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $76.50 and last traded at $77.3050. 412,111 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 47% from the average session volume of 280,593 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on STRA. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barrington Research dropped their price target on shares of Strategic Education from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Strategic Education from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Strategic Education from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.67.

Strategic Education Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.09 and its 200-day moving average is $80.41.

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

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Strategic Education news, Director Michael Thawley bought 665 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $72.71 per share, with a total value of $48,352.15. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 12,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,717.34. The trade was a 5.79% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Christa Hokenson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $160,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 65,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,215,600. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $117,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465,352 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Strategic Education by 0.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,458,740 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $121,017,000 after acquiring an additional 7,346 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Strategic Education by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 881,089 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $70,663,000 after purchasing an additional 6,737 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 609,040 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $48,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Strategic Education by 30.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 454,509 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $37,706,000 after acquiring an additional 106,487 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

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.