Sanctuary Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Strategic Education Inc. $STRA

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,228 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,014,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STRA. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Strategic Education during the 2nd quarter worth about $291,189,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Strategic Education by 62,355.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,467,702 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $117,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465,352 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Strategic Education in the second quarter valued at about $16,778,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Strategic Education by 188.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 245,296 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $20,882,000 after acquiring an additional 160,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Strategic Education by 115.4% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 216,117 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $18,588,000 after acquiring an additional 115,801 shares in the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $160,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 65,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,215,600. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

Shares of STRA stock opened at $85.58 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $80.79 and its 200-day moving average is $80.03. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.49. Strategic Education Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.70 and a 52-week high of $89.73.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The health services provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $327.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Strategic Education Inc. will post 7.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Strategic Education from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Strategic Education from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Barrington Research set a $105.00 price objective on Strategic Education in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Strategic Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.33.

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.