Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Holdings in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) by 9.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 278,091 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,434 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Perdoceo Education were worth $5,954,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP boosted its position in Perdoceo Education by 1,306.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 38.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Perdoceo Education in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 650.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633 shares during the period. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Perdoceo Education during the 2nd quarter valued at $74,000. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PRDO. Barrington Research increased their price target on Perdoceo Education from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Perdoceo Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 8th.

Insider Transactions at Perdoceo Education

In related news, Director Patrick W. Gross sold 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.74, for a total transaction of $90,916.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 69,635 shares in the company, valued at $1,862,039.90. The trade was a 4.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP John Robert Kline sold 30,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.47, for a total value of $809,293.78. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 130,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,451,820.35. This represents a 18.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Perdoceo Education Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of PRDO stock opened at $26.12 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $25.03 and its 200 day moving average is $23.13. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.13, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.07. Perdoceo Education Co. has a 52-week low of $16.12 and a 52-week high of $29.47.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Perdoceo Education’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

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.