American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $59.60 and last traded at $59.54, with a volume of 215548 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $57.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APEI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Griffin Securities set a $53.00 target price on shares of American Public Education in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of American Public Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Lake Street Capital raised their price target on shares of American Public Education from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Northland Securities set a $51.00 price target on shares of American Public Education in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of American Public Education from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.50.

American Public Education Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $51.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a current ratio of 3.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 44.56, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.49.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.28. American Public Education had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 11.30%. The firm had revenue of $158.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.61 million. American Public Education has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.580-0.640 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Public Education, Inc. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at American Public Education

In related news, insider Nuno S. Fernandes sold 6,500 shares of American Public Education stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.87, for a total transaction of $350,155.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 84,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,507.25. This trade represents a 7.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider 325 Capital Llc sold 95,512 shares of American Public Education stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.76, for a total transaction of $5,230,237.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 901,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,351,573.84. This trade represents a 9.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 377,071 shares of company stock worth $20,753,569 over the last 90 days. 17.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of APEI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in American Public Education by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in American Public Education by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 538,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,018,000 after acquiring an additional 21,079 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in American Public Education by 7.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 97,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,172,000 after buying an additional 6,671 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in American Public Education by 9.3% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in American Public Education by 40.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. 79.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Public Education Company Profile

American Public Education, Inc operates as a provider of online postsecondary education, offering degree and certificate programs through its wholly owned subsidiary, American Public University System (APUS). The company designs and delivers a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs in fields such as business administration, information technology, criminal justice, homeland security, health sciences, and education. Its curriculum is developed to meet the needs of working adults, military personnel, veterans and civilian students seeking flexible, career-relevant learning opportunities.

APUS is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and employs a proprietary online learning platform that supports asynchronous instruction, digital course materials and interactive learning tools.