Van Berkom & Associates Inc. Sells 286,645 Shares of Laureate Education $LAUR

Van Berkom & Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,440,527 shares of the company’s stock after selling 286,645 shares during the period. Laureate Education makes up about 3.3% of Van Berkom & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Van Berkom & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Laureate Education were worth $93,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in Laureate Education by 34.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,842,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,629,000 after purchasing an additional 984,671 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Laureate Education by 39.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,155,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,243,000 after purchasing an additional 328,609 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. raised its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 964,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,821,000 after purchasing an additional 14,717 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 26.0% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 751,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,179,000 after purchasing an additional 155,200 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 736.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 726,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,316,000 after purchasing an additional 639,726 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAUR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Laureate Education from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Barrington Research began coverage on shares of Laureate Education in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Laureate Education from $34.50 to $36.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Laureate Education from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.90.

Insider Activity at Laureate Education

In other news, Director Ian Snow sold 427,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.26, for a total transaction of $15,483,708.94. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,646,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,695,708.24. This represents a 20.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 521,229 shares of company stock worth $19,103,350. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Laureate Education Price Performance

Laureate Education stock opened at $34.56 on Tuesday. Laureate Education has a 12 month low of $24.98 and a 12 month high of $40.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.57. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.45.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. Laureate Education had a return on equity of 26.41% and a net margin of 20.28%. The business had revenue of $485.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $480.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. Laureate Education’s revenue was up 21.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Laureate Education will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Laureate Education Company Profile

Laureate Education, Inc operates a network of private higher education institutions in Mexico and Peru. Its principal institutions are Universidad del Valle de México (UVM) and Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC).

The company offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs, as well as other academic and professional education, across fields that include business, health sciences, engineering and technology. Its institutions serve students through campus-based and digital learning options.

Laureate traces its origins to Sylvan Learning Systems, founded in 1989, and later expanded internationally under the Laureate International Universities name.