Barrington Research Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) Stock

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Barrington Research from $38.00 to $40.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Barrington Research's target price would indicate a potential upside of 23.95% from the stock's current price.

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded Perdoceo Education from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

Perdoceo Education Price Performance

Shares of PRDO traded down $0.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $32.27. 814,643 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 487,259. The company has a current ratio of 4.84, a quick ratio of 5.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Perdoceo Education has a 1 year low of $20.23 and a 1 year high of $34.60. The company has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $28.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.43.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.04. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 16.85% and a net margin of 21.66%. The company had revenue of $213.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Perdoceo Education will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Perdoceo Education

In other Perdoceo Education news, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 38,984 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.66, for a total transaction of $961,345.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 644,047 shares in the company, valued at $15,882,199.02. This trade represents a 5.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Elise Baskel sold 17,818 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.16, for a total value of $430,482.88. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 93,354 shares in the company, valued at $2,255,432.64. The trade was a 16.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 147,116 shares of company stock worth $3,895,709 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.11% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PRDO. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 353.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 110,622 shares of the company's stock worth $2,460,000 after buying an additional 86,227 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,696 shares of the company's stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 92,870 shares of the company's stock worth $2,458,000 after buying an additional 26,142 shares during the period. Polaris Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC now owns 54,800 shares of the company's stock worth $1,451,000 after buying an additional 11,300 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 318,963 shares of the company's stock worth $8,443,000 after buying an additional 10,680 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.46% of the company's stock.

About Perdoceo Education

Perdoceo Education Corporation provides postsecondary education through online, campus-based, and blended learning programs in the United States. It operates in two segments, Colorado Technical University and The American InterContinental University System. The Colorado Technical University segment offers academic programs, such as business and management, nursing, healthcare management, computer science, engineering, information systems and technology, project management, cybersecurity, and criminal justice.