D.A. Davidson & CO. Grows Stake in Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,660 shares of the health services provider’s stock after buying an additional 418 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Strategic Education were worth $894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Strategic Education by 10,374.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 199,538 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $18,467,000 after buying an additional 197,633 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Strategic Education in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $12,231,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Strategic Education by 64.9% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 251,778 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $27,862,000 after acquiring an additional 99,100 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Strategic Education by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,447,810 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $160,212,000 after purchasing an additional 48,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 570.1% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 55,991 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $6,196,000 after purchasing an additional 47,635 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

Strategic Education stock opened at $98.81 on Monday. Strategic Education, Inc. has a one year low of $85.11 and a one year high of $123.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $91.86 and a 200 day moving average of $100.94. The stock has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.57.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The health services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $305.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $301.62 million. Strategic Education had a net margin of 10.44% and a return on equity of 7.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Strategic Education, Inc. will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on STRA. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Strategic Education from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Strategic Education presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.00.

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.