Teacher Retirement System of Texas Raises Stock Position in Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA - Free Report) by 229.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. 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.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Strategic Education in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,715,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Strategic Education by 207.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 175,141 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $16,362,000 after acquiring an additional 118,151 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Strategic Education by 202.3% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 114,765 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $10,720,000 after acquiring an additional 76,804 shares during the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. grew its position in Strategic Education by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 618,286 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $57,760,000 after acquiring an additional 70,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Strategic Education by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,793,685 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $260,986,000 after acquiring an additional 45,421 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Strategic Education from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Strategic Education in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Strategic Education from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $105.00 target price on Strategic Education in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert R. Grusky sold 1,494 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.27, for a total value of $119,923.38. Following the sale, the director owned 11,349 shares of the company's stock, valued at $910,984.23. The trade was a 11.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Strategic Education Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STRA traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $81.04. 235,280 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 171,184. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.28. Strategic Education Inc. has a 1-year low of $74.28 and a 1-year high of $121.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 0.95 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $303.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.67 million. Strategic Education had a net margin of 9.14% and a return on equity of 7.29%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Strategic Education Inc. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

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

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.