Laureate Education $LAUR Stock: Ninety One North America Inc. Increases Stake

Ninety One North America Inc. grew its position in Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 964,909 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,717 shares during the period. Laureate Education accounts for approximately 1.9% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Ninety One North America Inc. owned 0.70% of Laureate Education worth $36,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LAUR. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Laureate Education by 33.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of Laureate Education by 2.3% in the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 25,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $886,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Laureate Education by 5.1% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 15,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Laureate Education by 6.8% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 14,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $515,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Laureate Education by 7.9% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 20,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Laureate Education from $34.50 to $36.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of Laureate Education in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Laureate Education from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barrington Research assumed coverage on Laureate Education in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Laureate Education has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.90.

Laureate Education Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LAUR traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $39.57. 352,199 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,319,087. Laureate Education has a 12-month low of $24.98 and a 12-month high of $40.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.73, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $37.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.93.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. Laureate Education had a net margin of 17.57% and a return on equity of 23.54%. The business had revenue of $615.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $607.56 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Laureate Education’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Laureate Education has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.040-2.100 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Laureate Education will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Laureate Education

In other news, Director Ian Snow sold 427,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.26, for a total transaction of $15,483,708.94. Following the sale, the director owned 1,646,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,695,708.24. This trade represents a 20.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 521,229 shares of company stock valued at $19,103,350. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Laureate Education Company Profile

Laureate Education, Inc is a provider of higher education services that operates universities and other postsecondary institutions. Through its network of institutions, the company offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs, professional education, and related academic services in fields such as business, health sciences, engineering, technology, and social sciences.

Laureate primarily serves students in Latin America, with operations in Mexico and Peru. Its institutions deliver programs through in-person, online, and blended learning formats, and are intended to serve both traditional university students and working professionals.

The company traces its roots to Sylvan Learning Systems, which expanded internationally and adopted the Laureate name in 2004.