Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Sells 145,619 Shares of Laureate Education $LAUR

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA reduced its position in Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) by 17.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 711,135 shares of the company’s stock after selling 145,619 shares during the quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA’s holdings in Laureate Education were worth $22,003,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LAUR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Laureate Education by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,060,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,081,000 after purchasing an additional 387,567 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Laureate Education by 106.9% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 96,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 49,872 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 3.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 367,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,513,000 after purchasing an additional 13,620 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC raised its position in shares of Laureate Education by 173.5% in the first quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 225,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,614,000 after buying an additional 143,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Laureate Education by 44.3% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 65,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after buying an additional 20,120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. Zacks Research cut shares of Laureate Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Laureate Education from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Laureate Education from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Laureate Education in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Laureate Education has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

Laureate Education Price Performance

Shares of Laureate Education stock opened at $33.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.50 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Laureate Education has a 12 month low of $17.82 and a 12 month high of $33.81. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $30.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.25.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.10). Laureate Education had a return on equity of 22.99% and a net margin of 12.86%.The firm had revenue of $400.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Laureate Education will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laureate Education declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Laureate Education

Laureate Education, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers higher education programs and services to students through a network of universities and higher education institutions. The company provides a range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the areas of business and management, medicine and health sciences, and engineering and information technology through campus-based, online, and hybrid programs.