Lightrock Netherlands B.V. Lowers Holdings in Strategic Education Inc. $STRA

Lightrock Netherlands B.V. lowered its holdings in Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) by 42.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 140,363 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 103,856 shares during the quarter. Strategic Education makes up approximately 1.2% of Lightrock Netherlands B.V.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Lightrock Netherlands B.V.’s holdings in Strategic Education were worth $11,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Strategic Education by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,195 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 40.2% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 43,433 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $3,647,000 after acquiring an additional 12,444 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Strategic Education by 192.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Strategic Education by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 24,657 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 4,118 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Strategic Education during the 2nd quarter worth about $246,000. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael Thawley acquired 665 shares of Strategic Education stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $72.71 per share, for a total transaction of $48,352.15. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 12,154 shares in the company, valued at $883,717.34. This represents a 5.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christa Hokenson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $160,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 65,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,215,600. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STRA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barrington Research lowered their price objective on Strategic Education from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Strategic Education from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Strategic Education from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Strategic Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.67.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

Shares of STRA stock opened at $77.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $79.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.41. Strategic Education Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.70 and a 1 year high of $87.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.50.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The health services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.51 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $305.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.81 million. Strategic Education had a net margin of 10.21% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Strategic Education Inc. will post 7.2 EPS for the current year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Strategic Education’s payout ratio is 42.40%.

Strategic Education Profile

Strategic Education, Inc is a publicly traded higher education services holding company headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. Through its primary operating subsidiaries, Strayer University and Capella University, the company delivers degree programs and professional development opportunities to working adults. Its offerings span undergraduate and graduate degrees, certificates, continuing education, and workforce training in fields such as business, technology, health services, education, and public administration.

Strayer University, with a network of physical campuses across the United States complemented by an online platform, provides associate’s through doctoral degrees designed to accommodate non-traditional students.