Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires 45,341 Shares of Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA - Free Report) by 229.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,113 shares of the health services provider's stock after buying an additional 45,341 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.26% of Strategic Education worth $5,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 394.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 480 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 809.1% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 700 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Strategic Education by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,431 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 105,000.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,153 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 3,150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STRA has been the subject of several research reports. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial set a $105.00 price objective on Strategic Education in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Strategic Education from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Strategic Education from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Strategic Education Price Performance

NASDAQ STRA traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $81.08. 240,400 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 157,496. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $86.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.38. Strategic Education Inc. has a 52 week low of $74.28 and a 52 week high of $121.60. The company has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.52.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The health services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.29. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 9.14%. The business had revenue of $303.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $300.67 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Strategic Education Inc. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Strategic Education's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert R. Grusky sold 1,494 shares of Strategic Education stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.27, for a total transaction of $119,923.38. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $910,984.23. The trade was a 11.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Strategic Education Company 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.