EntryPoint Capital LLC Takes Position in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 8,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PRDO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 227.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Perdoceo Education during the 4th quarter worth about $60,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Perdoceo Education by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Perdoceo Education during the 3rd quarter worth about $114,000. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barrington Research increased their price target on Perdoceo Education from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Perdoceo Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Perdoceo Education Stock Performance

Shares of PRDO stock opened at $25.43 on Friday. Perdoceo Education Co. has a one year low of $16.56 and a one year high of $29.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 5.45 and a current ratio of 4.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.04.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $176.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.12 million. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 16.85% and a net margin of 21.66%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Perdoceo Education’s payout ratio is currently 23.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Ashish R. Ghia sold 11,914 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.50, for a total value of $303,807.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 240,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,125,508. This represents a 4.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 38,984 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.66, for a total transaction of $961,345.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 644,047 shares in the company, valued at $15,882,199.02. The trade was a 5.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 99,634 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,318. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Perdoceo Education

Perdoceo Education Corporation provides postsecondary education through online, campus-based, and blended learning programs in the United States. It operates in two segments, Colorado Technical University and The American InterContinental University System. The Colorado Technical University segment offers academic programs, such as business and management, nursing, healthcare management, computer science, engineering, information systems and technology, project management, cybersecurity, and criminal justice.