AlphaQuest LLC Sells 13,435 Shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its holdings in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) by 61.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,577 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,435 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Perdoceo Education were worth $227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in Perdoceo Education during the third quarter worth $234,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Perdoceo Education by 71.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 73,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 30,725 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in Perdoceo Education by 1.0% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 85,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,904,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 1.2% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 485,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,799,000 after purchasing an additional 5,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Perdoceo Education by 1,107.5% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 22,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,000 after buying an additional 20,189 shares during the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on PRDO shares. Barrington Research boosted their price objective on shares of Perdoceo Education from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised Perdoceo Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Perdoceo Education Price Performance

Shares of PRDO stock opened at $24.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 5.45 and a current ratio of 4.84. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.05. Perdoceo Education Co. has a fifty-two week low of $16.56 and a fifty-two week high of $29.84.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Perdoceo Education had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 16.85%. The business had revenue of $176.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.12 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Perdoceo Education’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Perdoceo Education

In related news, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 12,472 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total transaction of $327,888.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 615,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,186,674.13. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Robert Kline sold 12,148 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total transaction of $313,296.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 130,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,363,144.95. This trade represents a 8.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

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.