Insider Selling: Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) Insider Sells 850 Shares of Company Stock

Key Points

• Insider sale: John Terrence Woods sold 850 Phoenix Education Partners shares for $21,250 under a Rule 10b5-1 plan to cover tax withholding, reducing his position by 1.34%. He also sold 19,453 shares worth approximately $503,638 on October 9.
• Stock performance: PXED fell 0.9% to $24.14 and is trading near its 52-week low of $23.52, below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst outlook: Analysts have a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $40.60 price target, although recent ratings have been mixed, ranging from “Strong Buy” to “Sell.”

Phoenix Education Partners, Inc. (NYSE:PXED - Get Free Report) insider John Terrence Woods sold 850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $21,250.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 62,682 shares in the company, valued at $1,567,050. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

John Terrence Woods also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, October 9th, John Terrence Woods sold 19,453 shares of Phoenix Education Partners stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.89, for a total value of $503,638.17.

Phoenix Education Partners Trading Down 0.9%

PXED traded down $0.21 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $24.14. The company had a trading volume of 86,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 102,242. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.31. The stock has a market cap of $870.28 million and a P/E ratio of 11.23. Phoenix Education Partners, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.52 and a 52 week high of $38.19.

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.15. Phoenix Education Partners had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 60.06%. The business had revenue of $271.80 million for the quarter. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Phoenix Education Partners, Inc. will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Phoenix Education Partners from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Phoenix Education Partners from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Phoenix Education Partners to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered Phoenix Education Partners from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research raised Phoenix Education Partners from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $40.60.

Institutional Trading of Phoenix Education Partners

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PXED. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Phoenix Education Partners by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 743,112 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,411,000 after buying an additional 241,997 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Phoenix Education Partners during the second quarter worth approximately $12,620,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Phoenix Education Partners during the second quarter worth approximately $2,398,000. Bastion Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Phoenix Education Partners during the first quarter worth approximately $2,085,000. Finally, Manatuck Hill Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,364,000.

About Phoenix Education Partners

Phoenix Education Partners, Inc NYSE: PXED is an education company focused on providing higher education and career-oriented learning opportunities for working adults. Its principal institution is University of Phoenix, which offers programs designed to accommodate students balancing education with professional and personal responsibilities.

Through University of Phoenix, the company provides online and flexible learning options in areas such as business, education, health care, information technology, nursing, and criminal justice.

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