American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) Trading Down 7.2% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) fell 7.2% on Wednesday, trading as low as $53.97 and ending near $53.86 on lighter-than-average volume.
• Despite the selloff, Wall Street sentiment remains positive: analysts have issued multiple buy/strong-buy upgrades, and the consensus rating is Buy with an average target price of $59.12.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.94 EPS versus the $0.61 estimate, while insiders and institutions remain heavily involved, with insiders owning 10.6% and institutions 79.62% of shares.

American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 7.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $53.97 and last traded at $53.8550. Approximately 245,974 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 293,348 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APEI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on American Public Education from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research upgraded American Public Education from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of American Public Education in a report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded American Public Education from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised American Public Education from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.12.

American Public Education Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $957.97 million, a PE ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $53.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $174.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.73 million. American Public Education had a net margin of 6.13% and a return on equity of 14.02%. American Public Education has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.340-0.390 EPS. Research analysts expect that American Public Education, Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at American Public Education

In related news, SVP Thomas Beckett sold 2,000 shares of American Public Education stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 52,172 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,817,288. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 10.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APEI. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Public Education during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in American Public Education by 5,909.5% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,262 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in American Public Education by 84.1% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of American Public Education by 40.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,914 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in American Public Education by 96.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,643 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.62% of the company's stock.

American Public Education Company Profile

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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