Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Raises Stake in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,995 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Perdoceo Education were worth $344,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position 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. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Perdoceo Education during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Perdoceo Education in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $133,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Perdoceo Education by 3,465.3% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 6,099 shares in the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on PRDO. StockNews.com raised Perdoceo Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barrington Research lifted their target price on Perdoceo Education from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Perdoceo Education Price Performance

NASDAQ PRDO opened at $28.18 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.06. Perdoceo Education Co. has a 1 year low of $16.12 and a 1 year high of $29.47.

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

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Perdoceo Education’s payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Patrick W. Gross sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.74, for a total value of $90,916.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 69,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,862,039.90. This represents a 4.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP John Robert Kline sold 12,148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total value of $313,296.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 130,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,363,144.95. This represents a 8.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,541,396 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

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.