Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) Share Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $96.18 and traded as high as $98.00. Strategic Education shares last traded at $97.53, with a volume of 71,661 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STRA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Strategic Education from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Strategic Education in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.00.

Strategic Education Stock Down 0.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.18.

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The health services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $305.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $301.62 million. Strategic Education had a net margin of 10.44% and a return on equity of 7.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Strategic Education, Inc. will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Strategic Education Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. Strategic Education’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Institutional Trading of Strategic Education

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STRA. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Strategic Education by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 8,113 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $758,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Strategic Education by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Strategic Education by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,938 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Guidance Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Strategic Education by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 5,206 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its position in Strategic Education by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 7,676 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% 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.