Marshfield Associates Trims Holdings in Strategic Education Inc. $STRA

Marshfield Associates decreased its position in shares of Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) by 12.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,585,588 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 224,516 shares during the quarter. Strategic Education accounts for approximately 2.4% of Marshfield Associates’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Marshfield Associates owned 6.75% of Strategic Education worth $136,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Strategic Education by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,524,317 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $129,765,000 after buying an additional 48,486 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 4.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 610,839 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $52,007,000 after acquiring an additional 26,872 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 27.0% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 332,767 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $28,621,000 after acquiring an additional 70,732 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 188.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 245,296 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $20,882,000 after purchasing an additional 160,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lightrock Netherlands B.V. lifted its position in Strategic Education by 155.7% during the third quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. now owns 234,719 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $20,188,000 after purchasing an additional 142,915 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Strategic Education Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of STRA stock opened at $79.26 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $81.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.87. Strategic Education Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.17 and a 12-month high of $93.45.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The health services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $311.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $322.29 million. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 8.75% and a net margin of 9.98%.The business’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Strategic Education Inc. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Strategic Education’s payout ratio is presently 44.28%.

Insider Activity at Strategic Education

In other Strategic Education news, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.37, for a total transaction of $1,070,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,244,907.52. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Robert S. Silberman acquired 718 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $80.82 per share, for a total transaction of $58,028.76. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman owned 319,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,851,893.40. This represents a 0.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 59,438 shares of company stock worth $4,605,016 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on STRA. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research upgraded Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Strategic Education has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $99.33.

About Strategic Education

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.