Ameriprise Financial Inc. Decreases Stake in Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR - Free Report) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 957,129 shares of the company's stock after selling 29,139 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.64% of Laureate Education worth $17,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LAUR. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its position in Laureate Education by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 3,386 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 48.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Laureate Education by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 6,976 shares of the company's stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Laureate Education in the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 112.8% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 12,180 shares of the company's stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 6,455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.27% of the company's stock.

Laureate Education Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LAUR traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $21.92. The company had a trading volume of 30,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 742,291. Laureate Education, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.60 and a 12-month high of $23.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $20.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.46. The company has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.20. Laureate Education had a return on equity of 32.35% and a net margin of 18.92%. The business had revenue of $423.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $411.50 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Laureate Education, Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ian Kendell Snow sold 520,831 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.47, for a total value of $9,098,917.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Laureate Education from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

Laureate Education Profile

Laureate Education, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers higher education programs and services to students through a network of universities and higher education institutions. The company provides a range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the areas of business and management, medicine and health sciences, and engineering and information technology through campus-based, online, and hybrid programs.