Strategic Education Inc. $STRA Shares Sold by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,067 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 521 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Strategic Education worth $1,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 17.3% during the first quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,475,831 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $123,911,000 after buying an additional 217,151 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Strategic Education by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 589,053 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $55,029,000 after purchasing an additional 34,608 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Strategic Education by 6.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 423,549 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $35,561,000 after purchasing an additional 26,284 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Strategic Education by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 390,539 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $36,484,000 after purchasing an additional 29,772 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Strategic Education during the first quarter valued at $31,497,000. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director G Thomas Waite III sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.69, for a total transaction of $57,183.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,300,994.94. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson acquired 1,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $81.50 per share, with a total value of $154,850.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 104,136 shares in the company, valued at $8,487,084. This represents a 1.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on STRA. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Strategic Education from $98.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.33.

Strategic Education Stock Up 0.2%

STRA stock opened at $83.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.35. Strategic Education Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.25 and a 52 week high of $104.51.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The health services provider reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $321.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $322.84 million. Strategic Education had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 7.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Strategic Education Inc. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Strategic Education’s payout ratio is currently 49.90%.

About Strategic Education

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.