Magnetar Financial LLC Purchases New Holdings in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 227.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Perdoceo Education during the 4th quarter worth $60,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,355 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Perdoceo Education during the 3rd quarter worth $114,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on PRDO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Perdoceo Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barrington Research lifted their target price on shares of Perdoceo Education from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 12,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total value of $327,888.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 615,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,186,674.13. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Elise Baskel sold 17,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.16, for a total transaction of $430,482.88. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 93,354 shares in the company, valued at $2,255,432.64. This represents a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,438 shares of company stock valued at $1,071,669 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Perdoceo Education Price Performance

Shares of PRDO stock opened at $24.58 on Friday. Perdoceo Education Co. has a 12-month low of $16.56 and a 12-month high of $29.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 5.45, a current ratio of 4.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $26.85 and a 200-day moving average of $25.13.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Perdoceo Education had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 16.85%. The company had revenue of $176.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.12 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Perdoceo Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.64%.

Perdoceo Education Profile

Perdoceo Education Corporation provides postsecondary education through online, campus-based, and blended learning programs in the United States. It operates in two segments, Colorado Technical University and The American InterContinental University System. The Colorado Technical University segment offers academic programs, such as business and management, nursing, healthcare management, computer science, engineering, information systems and technology, project management, cybersecurity, and criminal justice.