Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Sells 22,177 Shares of Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR)

Key Points

• Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations reduced its stake in Laureate Education by 21.9%, selling 22,177 shares to hold 79,172 shares worth approximately $1.62 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Marathon Asset Management, have recently increased their holdings in Laureate Education, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Analysts have raised their ratings for Laureate Education, with Wall Street Zen upgrading the stock to a "strong-buy" and BMO Capital Markets increasing the price target from $23.00 to $24.00.

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations lessened its position in Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Free Report) by 21.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,172 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,177 shares during the quarter. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations owned 0.05% of Laureate Education worth $1,619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Laureate Education by 3.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,060,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $267,081,000 after acquiring an additional 387,567 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Laureate Education by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,090,486 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,683,000 after acquiring an additional 87,267 shares during the last quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Laureate Education by 6.6% in the first quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,816,234 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,142,000 after acquiring an additional 112,492 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Laureate Education by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,761,870 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,225,000 after acquiring an additional 122,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,663,351 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,424,000 after buying an additional 263,418 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.27% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LAUR shares. Wall Street Zen raised Laureate Education from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Laureate Education from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

Laureate Education Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:LAUR opened at $24.74 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $23.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.15. Laureate Education has a 12-month low of $14.30 and a 12-month high of $24.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.06. Laureate Education had a return on equity of 29.46% and a net margin of 16.41%. The firm had revenue of $524.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $502.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Laureate Education will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

About Laureate Education

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.

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