Christa Hokenson Sells 2,000 Shares of Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Stock

Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) insider Christa Hokenson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $160,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 65,195 shares in the company, valued at $5,215,600. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Strategic Education Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of STRA stock opened at $81.58 on Friday. Strategic Education Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.70 and a 1-year high of $91.13. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.42.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The health services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.09). Strategic Education had a net margin of 10.21% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The business had revenue of $305.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Strategic Education Inc. will post 7.2 EPS for the current year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Strategic Education’s payout ratio is currently 42.40%.

Institutional Trading of Strategic Education

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STRA. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 62,355.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,467,702 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $117,710,000 after buying an additional 1,465,352 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 188.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 245,296 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $20,882,000 after buying an additional 160,303 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 115.4% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 216,117 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $18,588,000 after buying an additional 115,801 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Strategic Education in the second quarter worth about $9,615,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 30.6% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 454,509 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $37,706,000 after buying an additional 106,487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on STRA shares. Barrington Research lowered their target price on Strategic Education from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded Strategic Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Strategic Education from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.00.

About Strategic Education

Strategic Education, Inc is a publicly traded higher education services holding company headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. Through its primary operating subsidiaries, Strayer University and Capella University, the company delivers degree programs and professional development opportunities to working adults. Its offerings span undergraduate and graduate degrees, certificates, continuing education, and workforce training in fields such as business, technology, health services, education, and public administration.

Strayer University, with a network of physical campuses across the United States complemented by an online platform, provides associate’s through doctoral degrees designed to accommodate non-traditional students.