Strategic Education Inc. $STRA Shares Sold by Bastion Asset Management Inc.

Bastion Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) by 59.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,627 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 42,582 shares during the quarter. Bastion Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Strategic Education were worth $2,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Strategic Education by 62,355.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,467,702 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $117,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465,352 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 881,089 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $70,663,000 after purchasing an additional 6,737 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Strategic Education by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 609,040 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $48,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,579 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Strategic Education by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 351,969 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $28,228,000 after purchasing an additional 12,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 332,767 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $28,621,000 after purchasing an additional 70,732 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on STRA. Wall Street Zen cut Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Strategic Education from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Strategic Education from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Barrington Research reduced their price objective on Strategic Education from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Strategic Education presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.67.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STRA opened at $77.69 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.41. Strategic Education Inc. has a one year low of $69.70 and a one year high of $87.38. The stock has a market capitalization 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 announced 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). Strategic Education had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 10.21%.The business had revenue of $305.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.81 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. Strategic Education’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Strategic Education Inc. will post 7.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

About Strategic Education

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.