Paloma Partners Management Co Takes Position in Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA)

Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,909 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $639,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PDT Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Strategic Education by 74.1% in the 3rd quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 3,386 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Strategic Education by 80.6% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 15,710 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after buying an additional 7,012 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Strategic Education by 10.5% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 4,405 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Strategic Education by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 51,700 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $4,785,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Strategic Education in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,501,000. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STRA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Strategic Education from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.00.

Strategic Education Price Performance

Shares of STRA opened at $99.54 on Wednesday. Strategic Education, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.11 and a 1 year high of $123.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.67. The firm has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.59.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The health services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $305.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $301.62 million. Strategic Education had a net margin of 10.44% and a return on equity of 7.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Strategic Education, Inc. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

About Strategic Education

Strategic Education, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides education services through campus-based and online post-secondary education, and programs to develop job-ready skills. The company operates through U.S. Higher Education, Australia/New Zealand, and Education Technology Services segments. It operates Strayer University that offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business, criminal justice, education, health services, information technology, and public administration at physical campuses located in the eastern United States, as well as through online; non-degree web and mobile application development courses through Hackbright Academy and Devmountain; and MBA online through its Jack Welch Management Institute.