Insider Selling: Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) CEO Sells $3,116,374.65 in Stock

Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) CEO Raymond Karl Mcdonnell sold 31,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.83, for a total transaction of $3,116,374.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 140,281 shares in the company, valued at $13,723,690.23. The trade was a 18.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Strategic Education Price Performance

Strategic Education stock opened at $80.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.59. Strategic Education, Inc. has a 1 year low of $78.62 and a 1 year high of $123.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $96.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.75.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The health services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.10). Strategic Education had a net margin of 10.44% and a return on equity of 7.61%. The company had revenue of $311.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $315.18 million. Research analysts expect that Strategic Education, Inc. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Strategic Education’s payout ratio is presently 51.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Strategic Education

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of STRA. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 10,374.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 199,538 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $18,467,000 after purchasing an additional 197,633 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 76.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 399,144 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $36,941,000 after purchasing an additional 173,225 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Strategic Education in the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,715,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 207.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 175,141 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $16,362,000 after purchasing an additional 118,151 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 202.3% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 114,765 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $10,720,000 after purchasing an additional 76,804 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on STRA shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barrington Research lowered their price objective on shares of Strategic Education from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.25.

About Strategic Education

Strategic Education, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides education services through campus-based and online post-secondary education, and programs to develop job-ready skills. The company operates through U.S. Higher Education, Australia/New Zealand, and Education Technology Services segments. It operates Strayer University that offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business, criminal justice, education, health services, information technology, and public administration at physical campuses located in the eastern United States, as well as through online; non-degree web and mobile application development courses through Hackbright Academy and Devmountain; and MBA online through its Jack Welch Management Institute.