Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $25.32 Million Position in Laureate Education $LAUR

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group dramatically increased its stake in Laureate Education by 736% in the first quarter, ending with 726,646 shares valued at about $25.3 million.
• Institutional ownership is very high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 96.27% of Laureate Education’s stock, and several other firms also added to their positions recently.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but generally positive: Laureate has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with an average price target of $39.88, while the stock recently traded at $35.84 after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Free Report) by 736.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 726,646 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 639,726 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.51% of Laureate Education worth $25,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,403,265 shares of the company's stock valued at $114,605,000 after purchasing an additional 92,571 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Laureate Education by 3.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,272,264 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,506,000 after purchasing an additional 105,712 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Laureate Education by 52.6% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,654,708 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,384,000 after purchasing an additional 915,358 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Laureate Education by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,266,565 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,315,000 after buying an additional 811,108 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC lifted its stake in Laureate Education by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 1,827,026 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,516,000 after buying an additional 123,525 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered Laureate Education from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Laureate Education from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Laureate Education from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Laureate Education from $37.50 to $39.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Laureate Education from $41.50 to $41.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Laureate Education currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $39.88.

Laureate Education Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LAUR opened at $35.84 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.50. The firm has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Laureate Education has a 1-year low of $21.53 and a 1-year high of $40.75.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $272.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $265.06 million. Laureate Education had a return on equity of 22.07% and a net margin of 16.08%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.13) EPS. Laureate Education has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.000-2.080 EPS. Research analysts predict that Laureate Education will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laureate Education Company Profile

Laureate Education, Inc NASDAQ: LAUR is a leading global network of higher education institutions dedicated to providing undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs to a diverse student body. The company designs and delivers academic offerings through a combination of campus-based and online platforms, focusing on fields such as business, health sciences, engineering, education and hospitality management. By aligning its curriculum with regional workforce needs, Laureate aims to equip students with practical skills and industry insights that support career advancement and lifelong learning.

Through its network, Laureate operates a broad portfolio of universities and colleges, including both longstanding campus institutions and digitally native programs.

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