Strategic Education Inc. $STRA Shares Sold by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its holdings in Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) by 29.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 109,018 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 44,800 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.48% of Strategic Education worth $9,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Strategic Education by 88.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 294 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Strategic Education by 154.2% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 333 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 85.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 387 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Sankala Group LLC acquired a new stake in Strategic Education in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 305.3% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 616 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Strategic Education Price Performance

Shares of Strategic Education stock opened at $82.00 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $79.01 and its 200-day moving average is $80.15. Strategic Education Inc. has a one year low of $69.70 and a one year high of $89.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.50.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The health services provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $321.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $327.55 million. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 8.98% and a net margin of 10.46%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Strategic Education Inc. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Strategic Education news, insider Christa Hokenson sold 2,000 shares of Strategic Education stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on STRA. Zacks Research lowered shares of Strategic Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Strategic Education from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Barrington Research set a $105.00 target price on Strategic Education in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.33.

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.