American Public Education, Inc. $APEI Shares Purchased by Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) by 949.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 108,609 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 98,260 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.60% of American Public Education worth $4,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in shares of American Public Education in the third quarter worth $40,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Public Education by 5,909.5% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of American Public Education by 84.1% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in American Public Education by 40.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in American Public Education by 96.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the period. 79.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on APEI shares. William Blair set a $58.00 price objective on American Public Education in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of American Public Education in a research report on Monday, December 29th. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on American Public Education from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on American Public Education from $48.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barrington Research upped their price target on American Public Education from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.50.

More American Public Education News

Here are the key news stories impacting American Public Education this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and price-target raises are supporting upside — DA Davidson boosted its target to $58 and other brokers have lifted targets recently, reinforcing buy-side momentum after APEI’s Q4 beat. DA Davidson Price Target Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals and estimates improving: APEI posted an EPS and revenue beat for Q4 and provided Q1 EPS guidance (0.580–0.640), and recent upward earnings estimate revisions (highlighted by Zacks) support the bullish narrative. Zacks Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reports show anomalous zero-share totals and NaN changes (days-to-cover = 0.0) — this appears to be a data/reporting issue rather than a real spike in short activity, so treat short-interest signals cautiously.
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling this week could pressure the stock — 325 Capital LLC sold large blocks (multiple sales mid-March totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars), and a few senior executives also sold shares. These sizable disposals may create near-term selling pressure or raise questions about timing; filings are available via the SEC. 325 Capital/SEC Filing

American Public Education Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ APEI opened at $54.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a current ratio of 3.46. American Public Education, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.75 and a 1 year high of $58.69. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.88. The firm has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.09, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.70.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $158.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.61 million. American Public Education has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.580-0.640 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Public Education, Inc. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at American Public Education

In other news, SVP Thomas Beckett sold 2,000 shares of American Public Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.70, for a total value of $115,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 62,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,587,324.40. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karmela Gaffney sold 2,700 shares of American Public Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.87, for a total value of $150,849.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 40,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,264,243.49. The trade was a 6.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 215,459 shares of company stock valued at $11,968,144 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 17.54% of the company’s stock.

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.