Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Stake in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its stake in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO - Free Report) by 22.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 48,067 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,253 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.07% of Perdoceo Education worth $1,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Perdoceo Education by 227.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 122,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 47.5% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Perdoceo Education by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,875 shares of the company's stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,355 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Perdoceo Education

In related news, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 38,984 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 644,047 shares in the company, valued at $15,882,199.02. This represents a 5.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Ashish R. Ghia sold 35,677 shares of Perdoceo Education stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.83, for a total transaction of $921,536.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 204,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,281,640.91. The trade was a 14.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 110,691 shares of company stock valued at $2,774,669. Corporate insiders own 2.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PRDO. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Perdoceo Education in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Perdoceo Education from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Perdoceo Education Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PRDO traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.78. The company had a trading volume of 68,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 474,246. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $18.10 and a 1 year high of $29.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.87. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $25.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.75.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Perdoceo Education had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 16.85%. The firm had revenue of $176.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $160.12 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Perdoceo Education Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Perdoceo Education's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.64%.

Perdoceo Education Company Profile

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.