D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Takes Position in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 59,181 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,567,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.09% of Perdoceo Education at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PRDO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 227.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 223.6% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,793 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Perdoceo Education in the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Perdoceo Education by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,875 shares of the company's stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,355 shares during the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barrington Research upped their price target on Perdoceo Education from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Perdoceo Education from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

Perdoceo Education Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of PRDO stock traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $32.03. The company had a trading volume of 570,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 477,474. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.84 and a quick ratio of 5.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.79. The company's fifty day moving average is $27.41 and its 200 day moving average is $27.03. Perdoceo Education Co. has a fifty-two week low of $20.23 and a fifty-two week high of $32.08.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.04. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 16.85% and a net margin of 21.66%. The company had revenue of $213.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Perdoceo Education's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Perdoceo Education news, CFO Ashish R. Ghia sold 6,236 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $155,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 252,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,303,250. This trade represents a 2.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michele A. Peppers sold 4,038 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $129,216.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 45,876 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,468,032. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 127,820 shares of company stock worth $3,296,615 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.11% of the company's stock.

About Perdoceo Education

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.