Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Shares Gap Down to $120.83

Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $120.83, but opened at $112.81. Strategic Education shares last traded at $109.99, with a volume of 13,325 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on STRA shares. StockNews.com cut Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Strategic Education from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial raised their price target on Strategic Education from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barrington Research raised their target price on Strategic Education from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Strategic Education presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.25.

Strategic Education Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $112.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.57. The firm has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The health services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $312.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.16 million. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 7.52% and a net margin of 9.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Strategic Education, Inc. will post 4.96 EPS for the current year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.87%.

Insider Transactions at Strategic Education

In other news, Director Robert R. Grusky sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.50, for a total transaction of $42,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,389,762.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Strategic Education in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. CWM LLC grew its position in Strategic Education by 2,650.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 330 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Strategic Education in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Strategic Education in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in Strategic Education in the fourth quarter worth $73,000. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.