Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) Shares Purchased by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO - Free Report) by 37.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,870 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 16,259 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Perdoceo Education worth $1,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PRDO. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,886 shares of the company's stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Perdoceo Education by 227.1% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Perdoceo Education by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 122,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,248,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Perdoceo Education by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,696 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake 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 buying an additional 1,239 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PRDO shares. Barrington Research increased 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 Perdoceo Education from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

Insider Transactions at Perdoceo Education

In related news, CFO Ashish R. Ghia sold 6,236 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $155,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 252,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,303,250. This trade represents a 2.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 38,984 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.66, for a total value of $961,345.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 644,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,882,199.02. This trade represents a 5.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 127,820 shares of company stock worth $3,296,615 over the last three months. 2.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Perdoceo Education Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PRDO traded up $0.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $31.03. The stock had a trading volume of 591,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 477,099. Perdoceo Education Co. has a 12-month low of $20.23 and a 12-month high of $32.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 5.45, a current ratio of 4.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.94.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.04. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 16.85% and a net margin of 21.66%. The firm had revenue of $213.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $207.97 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Perdoceo Education's payout ratio is 23.01%.

Perdoceo Education Company Profile

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.