Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C Takes Position in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C bought a new position in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 52,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,120,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 296.7% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 96,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,062,000 after acquiring an additional 71,995 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Perdoceo Education by 5.9% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 144,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,093,000 after purchasing an additional 8,072 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Perdoceo Education by 24.3% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,650,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,766,000 after purchasing an additional 518,048 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Perdoceo Education in the 2nd quarter worth $380,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,505,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,512,000 after buying an additional 107,918 shares during the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Perdoceo Education in a report on Friday, September 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Gregory L. Jackson sold 26,664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total transaction of $605,272.80. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 58,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,331,218.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Chairman Gregory L. Jackson sold 26,664 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total transaction of $605,272.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 58,644 shares in the company, valued at $1,331,218.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michele A. Peppers sold 6,476 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $135,996.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 61,952 shares in the company, valued at $1,300,992. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,325 shares of company stock valued at $1,044,656 in the last ninety days. 1.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Perdoceo Education Price Performance

NASDAQ:PRDO opened at $21.91 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.21. Perdoceo Education Co. has a 1 year low of $16.12 and a 1 year high of $26.40.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 16.42% and a net margin of 20.57%. The company had revenue of $166.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.91 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. Perdoceo Education’s revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. This is an increase from Perdoceo Education’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Perdoceo Education’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

Perdoceo Education 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.