Laureate Education $LAUR Stock: State of Wyoming Reduces Holdings

State of Wyoming lowered its stake in Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) by 81.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,207 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,390 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Laureate Education were worth $199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Laureate Education Price Performance

NASDAQ LAUR opened at $33.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Laureate Education has a 12-month low of $24.98 and a 12-month high of $40.92. The company has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.21 and its 200-day moving average is $35.58.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. Laureate Education had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $485.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $480.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Laureate Education will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Laureate Education

In other Laureate Education news, Director Ian Snow sold 427,019 shares of Laureate Education stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.26, for a total value of $15,483,708.94. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,646,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,695,708.24. The trade was a 20.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 521,229 shares of company stock valued at $19,103,350. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Laureate Education Company Profile

Laureate Education, Inc is a higher education company that operates a network of universities and other learning institutions. Its institutions provide undergraduate and graduate degree programs, professional education, and online and hybrid learning options across fields such as business, health sciences, engineering, technology, and the social sciences.

The company currently serves students primarily in Mexico and Peru. Its Mexican institutions include Universidad del Valle de México (UVM) and Universidad Tecnológica de México (UNITEC), while its Peruvian institutions include Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC) and Universidad Privada del Norte (UPN).