Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) Trading Down 4.7% - Should You Sell?

Shares of Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO - Get Free Report) fell 4.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $32.19 and last traded at $31.45. 49,927 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 484,471 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PRDO. Wall Street Zen downgraded Perdoceo Education from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Barrington Research raised their price target on Perdoceo Education from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th.

Perdoceo Education Trading Down 1.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 14.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 4.84, a quick ratio of 5.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.52.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $213.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.97 million. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 16.85% and a net margin of 21.66%. Perdoceo Education's quarterly revenue was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Perdoceo Education's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.01%.

Insider Activity at Perdoceo Education

In related news, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 38,984 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.66, for a total transaction of $961,345.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 644,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,882,199.02. The trade was a 5.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Julia A. Leeman sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.07, for a total value of $160,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at $951,741.39. The trade was a 14.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 224,364 shares of company stock worth $6,347,194. Corporate insiders own 2.11% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Perdoceo Education

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Perdoceo Education in the first quarter valued at about $733,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Perdoceo Education in the first quarter valued at about $11,022,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Perdoceo Education by 475.2% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 198,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,989,000 after acquiring an additional 163,677 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Perdoceo Education by 117.5% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 267,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,731,000 after acquiring an additional 144,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of Perdoceo Education in the first quarter worth about $656,000. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.