Lazard Asset Management LLC Acquires 48,118 Shares of Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR)

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR - Free Report) by 46.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 152,422 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 48,118 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Laureate Education worth $2,787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAUR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,090,486 shares of the company's stock worth $129,683,000 after purchasing an additional 87,267 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,584,925 shares of the company's stock worth $47,497,000 after purchasing an additional 130,172 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,181,073 shares of the company's stock worth $39,892,000 after purchasing an additional 35,521 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,761,870 shares of the company's stock worth $32,225,000 after purchasing an additional 122,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marathon Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,703,742 shares of the company's stock worth $31,161,000 after purchasing an additional 14,110 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.27% of the company's stock.

Laureate Education Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LAUR traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.50. The stock had a trading volume of 571,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 745,078. Laureate Education, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.60 and a 1-year high of $23.61. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $20.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 0.59.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $423.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $411.50 million. Laureate Education had a net margin of 18.92% and a return on equity of 32.35%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Laureate Education, Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Laureate Education from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laureate Education news, Director Ian Kendell Snow sold 520,831 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.47, for a total value of $9,098,917.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

About Laureate Education

Laureate Education, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers higher education programs and services to students through a network of universities and higher education institutions. The company provides a range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the areas of business and management, medicine and health sciences, and engineering and information technology through campus-based, online, and hybrid programs.