Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $88.10, but opened at $98.38. Strategic Education shares last traded at $96.01, with a volume of 27,850 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STRA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Strategic Education from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Strategic Education from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Strategic Education in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.00.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.15. The stock has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.57.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.28%.

Institutional Trading of Strategic Education

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of STRA. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in Strategic Education by 83.0% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 11,817 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 5,358 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in shares of Strategic Education during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,357,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Strategic Education during the 1st quarter worth approximately $738,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Strategic Education by 7.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 369,728 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $40,914,000 after acquiring an additional 25,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beck Bode LLC acquired a new position in Strategic Education during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,028,000. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Strategic Education Company Profile

Strategic Education, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides education services through campus-based and online post-secondary education, and programs to develop job-ready skills. The company operates through U.S. Higher Education, Australia/New Zealand, and Education Technology Services segments. It operates Strayer University that offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business, criminal justice, education, health services, information technology, and public administration at physical campuses located in the eastern United States, as well as through online; non-degree web and mobile application development courses through Hackbright Academy and Devmountain; and MBA online through its Jack Welch Management Institute.