First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 64,399 Shares of Perdoceo Education Corporation $PRDO

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Perdoceo Education Corporation (NASDAQ:PRDO) by 2.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,970,195 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 64,399 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Perdoceo Education were worth $110,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Perdoceo Education by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,465,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,969,000 after buying an additional 115,797 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 2.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,907,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,395,000 after acquiring an additional 108,727 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,411,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,715,000 after acquiring an additional 19,658 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,854,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,992,000 after acquiring an additional 137,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,681,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,324,000 after acquiring an additional 109,013 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

Perdoceo Education Stock Performance

NASDAQ PRDO opened at $30.84 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.67. Perdoceo Education Corporation has a 52-week low of $26.66 and a 52-week high of $38.50. The stock has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.70.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $221.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.40 million. Perdoceo Education had a net margin of 19.91% and a return on equity of 18.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. Perdoceo Education has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.050-3.160 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.790-0.800 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Perdoceo Education Corporation will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Perdoceo Education’s payout ratio is 22.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michele A. Peppers sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total transaction of $483,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 35,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,306. The trade was a 28.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenda B. Gonzales sold 9,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.79, for a total transaction of $323,825.32. Following the transaction, the director owned 48,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,675,416.82. This represents a 16.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 38,270 shares of company stock worth $1,336,193 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PRDO shares. Zacks Research lowered Perdoceo Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Perdoceo Education in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Barrington Research set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Perdoceo Education in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Perdoceo Education currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

Perdoceo Education Company Profile

Perdoceo Education Corporation (NASDAQ: PRDO) is a for-profit postsecondary education provider offering certificate, associate, bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. The company operates primarily through two brand platforms—Colorado Technical University and American InterContinental University—delivering career-focused education both on campus and online. These programs span fields such as business, information technology, healthcare and criminal justice, targeting working adults seeking to advance or pivot their careers.

With headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois, Perdoceo serves students across the United States and internationally through its online offerings.