StockNews.com Downgrades Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) to Buy

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Separately, Barrington Research raised their price objective on shares of Perdoceo Education from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Perdoceo Education Price Performance

Perdoceo Education stock opened at $26.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.56. Perdoceo Education has a 1-year low of $16.12 and a 1-year high of $29.47.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. Perdoceo Education had a net margin of 20.42% and a return on equity of 15.58%. The company had revenue of $169.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $164.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Perdoceo Education will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Patrick W. Gross sold 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.74, for a total value of $90,916.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 69,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,862,039.90. The trade was a 4.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP John Robert Kline sold 30,574 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.47, for a total transaction of $809,293.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 130,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,451,820.35. This represents a 18.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,450 shares of company stock valued at $1,036,206. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Perdoceo Education

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners grew its stake in Perdoceo Education by 979.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 750,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,376,000 after buying an additional 681,391 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 24.3% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,650,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,766,000 after acquiring an additional 518,048 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Perdoceo Education in the third quarter valued at $9,374,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 944.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 246,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,283,000 after acquiring an additional 223,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Perdoceo Education in the second quarter valued at $3,634,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

Perdoceo Education Company 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.