Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 359,847 Shares of Laureate Education $LAUR

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in Laureate Education by 5.1%, selling 359,847 shares during the first quarter, now holding approximately 6.73 million shares valued at $137.64 million.
• Wall Street analysts have shown positive sentiment towards Laureate Education, with BMO Capital Markets raising their target price from $23.00 to $24.00 and a consensus rating of "Buy" being established.
• Laureate Education reported earnings of $0.79 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a 5.0% increase in revenue year-over-year to $524.2 million.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its position in shares of Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,730,639 shares of the company's stock after selling 359,847 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 4.46% of Laureate Education worth $137,639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,060,176 shares of the company's stock worth $267,081,000 after acquiring an additional 387,567 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,150,013 shares of the company's stock worth $43,968,000 after acquiring an additional 388,143 shares during the period. Marathon Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in Laureate Education by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,816,234 shares of the company's stock worth $37,142,000 after purchasing an additional 112,492 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Laureate Education in the 1st quarter worth about $36,637,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Laureate Education by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,663,351 shares of the company's stock worth $30,424,000 after purchasing an additional 263,418 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.27% of the company's stock.

Laureate Education Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LAUR traded up $0.18 on Wednesday, hitting $27.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 746,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 961,771. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.85. Laureate Education has a 1 year low of $14.45 and a 1 year high of $27.46. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 16.08 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Laureate Education has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Laureate Education will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on LAUR shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Laureate Education from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Laureate Education from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.00.

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.