Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 10,300 Strategic Education Inc. $STRA

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 10,300 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $854,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of STRA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 3.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,195 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in Strategic Education by 40.2% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 43,433 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $3,647,000 after buying an additional 12,444 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Strategic Education by 192.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Strategic Education by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 24,657 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $2,099,000 after buying an additional 4,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Strategic Education in the 2nd quarter worth $246,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

Strategic Education stock opened at $80.98 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.50. Strategic Education Inc. has a one year low of $69.70 and a one year high of $87.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $78.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.33.

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

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Strategic Education’s payout ratio is 42.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Strategic Education

In other Strategic Education news, insider Christa Hokenson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $160,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 65,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,215,600. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Michael Thawley bought 665 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $72.71 per share, for a total transaction 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. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on STRA. Barrington Research lowered their target price on shares of Strategic Education from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Strategic Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Strategic Education from $95.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Strategic Education from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.00.

Strategic Education 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.