Ashish R. Ghia Sells 35,677 Shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) Stock

Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) CFO Ashish R. Ghia sold 35,677 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.83, for a total value of $921,536.91. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 204,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,281,640.91. This trade represents a 14.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Perdoceo Education Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Perdoceo Education stock opened at $25.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.87. Perdoceo Education Co. has a 1 year low of $16.56 and a 1 year high of $29.84. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.38. The company has a current ratio of 4.84, a quick ratio of 5.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $176.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.12 million. Perdoceo Education had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 16.85%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Perdoceo Education’s payout ratio is presently 23.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PRDO. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Perdoceo Education during the fourth quarter worth $47,129,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Perdoceo Education during the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,374,000. Boston Partners increased its stake in Perdoceo Education by 41.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,209,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,379,000 after acquiring an additional 352,470 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Perdoceo Education by 46.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 871,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,071,000 after purchasing an additional 275,129 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,296,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,251,000 after purchasing an additional 241,147 shares in the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.