Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened
by Michael Walen · The Markets DailyStrategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA – Get Free Report)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $80.92 and traded as high as $83.47. Strategic Education shares last traded at $82.46, with a volume of 299,917 shares.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages recently weighed in on STRA. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Strategic Education in a research 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Truist Financial cut Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Strategic Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Strategic Education currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.67.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Strategic Education
Strategic Education Stock Performance
The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.53.
Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The health services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $311.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $322.29 million. Strategic Education had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 8.75%. Strategic Education’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Strategic Education Inc. will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.
Strategic Education Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Strategic Education’s payout ratio is presently 44.28%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Strategic Education news, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was 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 owned 100,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,244,907.52. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Raymond Karl Mcdonnell sold 38,840 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.35, for a total value of $2,926,594.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 106,332 shares in the company, valued at $8,012,116.20. This trade represents a 26.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 62,420 shares of company stock worth $4,843,218. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Strategic Education
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Strategic Education in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Strategic Education by 88.5% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 294 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Strategic Education by 154.2% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 333 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Strategic Education by 85.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 387 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Finally, Sankala Group LLC bought a new position in Strategic Education during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
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.