Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Separately, Barrington Research increased their target price on Perdoceo Education from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Perdoceo Education Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PRDO traded up $0.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $27.33. 267,207 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 377,281. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s fifty day moving average is $26.68 and its 200 day moving average is $23.78. Perdoceo Education has a fifty-two week low of $16.12 and a fifty-two week high of $29.47.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.06. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 20.42%. The business had revenue of $169.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Perdoceo Education will post 2.27 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Perdoceo Education

In other news, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 12,472 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 615,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,186,674.13. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Robert Kline sold 30,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.47, for a total transaction of $809,293.78. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 130,405 shares in the company, valued at $3,451,820.35. The trade was a 18.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 58,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,541,396. 1.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Perdoceo Education

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRDO. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Perdoceo Education in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 19.4% during the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 68,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,471,000 after acquiring an additional 11,165 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Perdoceo Education by 7.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,384,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,660,000 after purchasing an additional 101,575 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Perdoceo Education in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,519,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Perdoceo Education by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,069,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,580,000 after purchasing an additional 28,909 shares during the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Perdoceo Education Company 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.