American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) Short Interest Down 7.7% in December

American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) saw a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 697,600 shares, a decrease of 7.7% from the December 15th total of 756,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 118,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.9 days. Approximately 4.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APEI. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of American Public Education by 94.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 2,261 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Public Education in the fourth quarter worth approximately $121,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Public Education by 129.1% in the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 5,187 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Public Education during the third quarter valued at approximately $165,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in American Public Education by 350.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 9,069 shares during the last quarter. 79.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on APEI. StockNews.com raised American Public Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Barrington Research boosted their target price on shares of American Public Education from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of American Public Education from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of American Public Education from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th.

American Public Education Stock Performance

NASDAQ APEI opened at $21.51 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $380.94 million, a P/E ratio of 38.41, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. American Public Education has a 12-month low of $10.15 and a 12-month high of $23.84.

American Public Education Company Profile

American Public Education, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides online and campus-based postsecondary education and career learning in the United States. It operates through three segments: American Public University System, Rasmussen University, and Hondros College of Nursing. The company offers 184 degree programs and 134 certificate programs in various fields of study, including nursing, national security, military studies, intelligence, homeland security, business, health science, information technology, justice studies, education, and liberal arts; and career learning opportunities in leadership, finance, human resources, and other fields of study critical to the federal government workforce.