Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) Sets New 12-Month High Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $21.73 and last traded at $21.55, with a volume of 118220 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $18.34.

The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $168.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.30 million. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 17.63% and a net margin of 20.80%. Perdoceo Education’s quarterly revenue was down 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRDO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Perdoceo Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barrington Research raised their price objective on Perdoceo Education from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Transactions at Perdoceo Education

In other news, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.65, for a total value of $282,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 681,367 shares in the company, valued at $12,026,127.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.65, for a total transaction of $282,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 681,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,026,127.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ashish R. Ghia sold 11,412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $216,828.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 226,234 shares in the company, valued at $4,298,446. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 75,412 shares of company stock worth $1,342,428 over the last three months. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Perdoceo Education

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 9.9% in the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 6,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 36,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $648,000 after purchasing an additional 682 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 4.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 17,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 5.3% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 6.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 23,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342 shares during the period. 93.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Perdoceo Education Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $17.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.70.

About Perdoceo Education

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.