Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New $304,000 Investment in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 11,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Perdoceo Education by 227.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Perdoceo Education during the 4th quarter worth about $60,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Perdoceo Education by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in Perdoceo Education by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 1,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Perdoceo Education during the 3rd quarter worth about $114,000. 93.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Perdoceo Education news, SVP Elise Baskel sold 17,818 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.16, for a total transaction of $430,482.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 93,354 shares in the company, valued at $2,255,432.64. This represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 12,472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total transaction of $327,888.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 615,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,186,674.13. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,438 shares of company stock worth $1,071,669 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Perdoceo Education Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of PRDO opened at $24.58 on Friday. Perdoceo Education Co. has a 52 week low of $16.56 and a 52 week high of $29.84. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 5.45 and a current ratio of 4.84.

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

Perdoceo Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Perdoceo Education’s payout ratio is presently 23.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRDO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barrington Research boosted their price objective 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 upgraded shares of Perdoceo Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note 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.