Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey Acquires 649 Shares of Strategic Education Inc. $STRA

Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its holdings in Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) by 13.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,391 shares of the health services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey’s holdings in Strategic Education were worth $459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of STRA. Royce & Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of Strategic Education during the 1st quarter worth $549,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in Strategic Education during the first quarter worth about $1,220,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Strategic Education in the first quarter worth about $554,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Strategic Education in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,168,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Strategic Education by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 327,210 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $27,473,000 after purchasing an additional 2,534 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on STRA. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Friday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Strategic Education in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Strategic Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.33.

Insider Activity at Strategic Education

In other Strategic Education news, CFO Daniel Wayne Jackson purchased 1,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $81.50 per share, for a total transaction of $154,850.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 104,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,487,084. This represents a 1.86% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Strategic Education Price Performance

Shares of STRA opened at $77.26 on Wednesday. Strategic Education Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.25 and a 1 year high of $104.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $80.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.09. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.63.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The health services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.33. Strategic Education had a return on equity of 7.52% and a net margin of 9.27%.The company had revenue of $319.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Strategic Education Inc. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Strategic Education’s payout ratio is 49.90%.

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.