Marshfield Associates Has $171.57 Million Position in Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA)

Marshfield Associates raised its position in Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA - Free Report) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,836,491 shares of the health services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,869 shares during the quarter. Strategic Education accounts for about 3.7% of Marshfield Associates' investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Marshfield Associates owned approximately 7.47% of Strategic Education worth $171,565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Strategic Education by 334.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 37,961 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $3,513,000 after buying an additional 29,220 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Strategic Education in the 3rd quarter valued at about $206,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 4.3% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,907 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Strategic Education in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Strategic Education by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 120,628 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $11,164,000 after buying an additional 12,437 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Strategic Education Price Performance

STRA stock traded up $3.37 on Friday, reaching $84.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 256,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 152,522. Strategic Education, Inc. has a 52 week low of $74.28 and a 52 week high of $123.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $81.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.85.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The health services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.29. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 7.61% and a net margin of 10.44%. The company had revenue of $303.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $300.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Strategic Education, Inc. will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. 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 the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.27, for a total transaction of $119,923.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $910,984.23. This represents a 11.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson sold 6,025 shares of Strategic Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.83, for a total transaction of $589,425.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,998,189.48. This trade represents a 6.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,826 shares of company stock valued at $3,945,093 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

About Strategic Education

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.