American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Consensus "Moderate Buy": Eight analysts cover APEI (five buys, two holds, one strong buy) and the average 1‑year price target is $55.50, with several recent target raises to roughly $56–$58.
• Operational beat: APEI reported Q results that beat estimates (EPS $0.67 vs. $0.39 expected; revenue $158.3M vs. $151.6M) and issued Q1 2026 guidance of $0.580–$0.640 EPS.
• Insider and institutional activity: Insiders sold 377,071 shares (~$20.75M) in the past three months though they still own 17.54% of the stock, while institutional investors hold about 79.62% after several large fund purchases.

American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of American Public Education from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. William Blair set a $58.00 price objective on shares of American Public Education in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Griffin Securities set a $53.00 price objective on shares of American Public Education in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on shares of American Public Education from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Barrington Research upped their target price on shares of American Public Education from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th.

American Public Education Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of APEI stock opened at $58.12 on Friday. American Public Education has a 1 year low of $21.85 and a 1 year high of $59.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 3.46. The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.74, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.49.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.28. American Public Education had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 11.30%. The firm had revenue of $158.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.61 million. American Public Education has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.580-0.640 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Public Education will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Thomas Beckett sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.70, for a total value of $115,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 62,172 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,587,324.40. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Tanya Joy Axenson sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.68, for a total transaction of $1,113,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 49,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,779,378.56. This represents a 28.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 377,071 shares of company stock worth $20,753,569 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 17.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APEI. No Street GP LP bought a new position in American Public Education in the 3rd quarter worth $32,365,000. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP bought a new position in American Public Education in the 3rd quarter worth $15,108,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in American Public Education by 1,667.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 180,835 shares of the company's stock worth $6,836,000 after buying an additional 170,604 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Public Education by 122.9% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 294,386 shares of the company's stock worth $11,619,000 after buying an additional 162,318 shares during the period. Finally, 4D Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Public Education by 111.1% in the 2nd quarter. 4D Advisors LLC now owns 285,000 shares of the company's stock worth $8,681,000 after buying an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.62% of the company's stock.

About American Public Education

American Public Education, Inc operates as a provider of online postsecondary education, offering degree and certificate programs through its wholly owned subsidiary, American Public University System (APUS). The company designs and delivers a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs in fields such as business administration, information technology, criminal justice, homeland security, health sciences, and education. Its curriculum is developed to meet the needs of working adults, military personnel, veterans and civilian students seeking flexible, career-relevant learning opportunities.

APUS is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and employs a proprietary online learning platform that supports asynchronous instruction, digital course materials and interactive learning tools.

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