Strategic Education Inc. $STRA Shares Bought by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Strategic Education Inc. by 49.1%, owning approximately $1,066,000 worth of shares by the end of the second quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and Teacher Retirement System of Texas, have significantly modified their holdings in Strategic Education, reflecting strong interest with over 93.27% of shares owned by institutional investors.
• Strategic Education reported a quarterly EPS of $1.52, exceeding analyst expectations, and has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, yielding 2.8%.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA - Free Report) by 49.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,777 shares of the health services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,205 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Strategic Education worth $1,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Strategic Education during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,497,000. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,475,831 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $123,911,000 after purchasing an additional 217,151 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 129.9% in the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 139,374 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $11,702,000 after purchasing an additional 78,740 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 645,235 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $54,174,000 after purchasing an additional 56,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Strategic Education by 229.3% in the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 65,113 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $5,467,000 after purchasing an additional 45,341 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Strategic Education

In related news, Director G Thomas Waite III sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.69, for a total transaction of $57,183.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,300,994.94. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson acquired 1,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $81.50 per share, for a total transaction of $154,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 104,136 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,487,084. This represents a 1.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STRA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Strategic Education from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Strategic Education in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Strategic Education in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $99.33.

Strategic Education Stock Performance

STRA stock opened at $85.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.70. Strategic Education Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.25 and a 52 week high of $104.51.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The health services provider reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $321.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $322.84 million. Strategic Education had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 7.52%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Strategic Education Inc. will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Strategic Education's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.90%.

Strategic Education Profile

Strategic Education, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides education services through campus-based and online post-secondary education, and programs to develop job-ready skills. The company operates through U.S. Higher Education, Australia/New Zealand, and Education Technology Services segments. It operates Strayer University that offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business, criminal justice, education, health services, information technology, and public administration at physical campuses located in the eastern United States, as well as through online; non-degree web and mobile application development courses through Hackbright Academy and Devmountain; and MBA online through its Jack Welch Management Institute.

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