Empowered Funds LLC Sells 184,475 Shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

Empowered Funds LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) by 38.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 301,077 shares of the company’s stock after selling 184,475 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.46% of Perdoceo Education worth $7,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Perdoceo Education by 38.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 1.0% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 85,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,904,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Perdoceo Education by 47.5% during the fourth 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. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its stake in Perdoceo Education by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 12,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Perdoceo Education in the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRDO has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Perdoceo Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Perdoceo Education in a research report on Friday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP John Robert Kline sold 12,148 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total value of $313,296.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 130,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,363,144.95. This represents a 8.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 12,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total value of $327,888.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 58,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,541,396. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Perdoceo Education Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PRDO opened at $28.45 on Tuesday. Perdoceo Education Co. has a 1 year low of $16.12 and a 1 year high of $29.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.52.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.06. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 20.42%. The firm had revenue of $169.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Perdoceo Education’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

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.