Boston Partners Purchases 352,470 Shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

Boston Partners lifted its stake in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) by 41.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,209,899 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 352,470 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in Perdoceo Education were worth $32,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake 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 period. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Perdoceo Education in the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,355 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Perdoceo Education in the third quarter worth approximately $114,000. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Perdoceo Education Stock Performance

PRDO opened at $24.80 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 4.84, a quick ratio of 5.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.27, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $26.91 and its 200 day moving average is $25.10. Perdoceo Education Co. has a 12-month low of $16.56 and a 12-month high of $29.84.

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

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Perdoceo Education’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Perdoceo Education

In other Perdoceo Education news, SVP John Robert Kline sold 12,148 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total transaction of $313,296.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 130,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,363,144.95. The trade was a 8.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 12,472 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total transaction of $327,888.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 615,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,186,674.13. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PRDO. Barrington Research lifted their price target on shares of 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 raised shares of Perdoceo Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Perdoceo Education Company Profile

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.