Meeder Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Strategic Education Inc. $STRA

Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,024 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $538,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Strategic Education during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Strategic Education by 88.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 294 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Strategic Education by 154.2% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 333 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Strategic Education by 85.2% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 387 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sankala Group LLC acquired a new position in Strategic Education during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Strategic Education from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Strategic Education from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Barrington Research set a $105.00 price target on Strategic Education in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.33.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STRA opened at $81.96 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.49. Strategic Education Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.70 and a 1-year high of $89.73. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.96.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The health services provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.04). Strategic Education had a return on equity of 8.98% and a net margin of 10.46%.The business had revenue of $321.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $327.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Strategic Education Inc. will post 7.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Strategic Education’s payout ratio is 40.00%.

Insider Activity at Strategic Education

In other news, insider Christa Hokenson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.