Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) Short Interest Update

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 3,104,862 shares, a growth of 57.6% from the February 26th total of 1,970,235 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,022,128 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Institutional Trading of Laureate Education

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Laureate Education by 1,060.2% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,101,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,888,000 after purchasing an additional 4,661,417 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,403,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,605,000 after purchasing an additional 92,571 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,272,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,506,000 after buying an additional 105,712 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,654,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,384,000 after buying an additional 915,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in Laureate Education by 22.4% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,503,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,669,000 after buying an additional 458,202 shares during the period. 96.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Laureate Education Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of LAUR traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $34.78. 1,163,475 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,970,124. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.30. Laureate Education has a 52 week low of $17.91 and a 52 week high of $37.91. The company has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11 and a beta of 0.59.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. The business had revenue of $541.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $527.10 million. Laureate Education had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 23.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. Laureate Education has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.950-2.030 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Laureate Education will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAUR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Laureate Education from $32.00 to $36.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Laureate Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Laureate Education from $40.00 to $41.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered Laureate Education from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Laureate Education from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.63.

Laureate Education Company Profile

Laureate Education, Inc (NASDAQ: LAUR) is a leading global network of higher education institutions dedicated to providing undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs to a diverse student body. The company designs and delivers academic offerings through a combination of campus-based and online platforms, focusing on fields such as business, health sciences, engineering, education and hospitality management. By aligning its curriculum with regional workforce needs, Laureate aims to equip students with practical skills and industry insights that support career advancement and lifelong learning.

Through its network, Laureate operates a broad portfolio of universities and colleges, including both longstanding campus institutions and digitally native programs.