American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday.

APEI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barrington Research upped their price objective on shares of American Public Education from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on American Public Education from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, B. Riley upped their target price on American Public Education from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

American Public Education Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APEI opened at $18.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.27. American Public Education has a 12 month low of $5.41 and a 12 month high of $21.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Public Education

In related news, Director Michael David Braner bought 59,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $14.05 per share, for a total transaction of $831,464.95. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,788,688 shares in the company, valued at $25,131,066.40. This represents a 3.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders bought 117,983 shares of company stock valued at $1,747,393 over the last quarter. 11.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Public Education

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in American Public Education by 5,036.3% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 87,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 86,120 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Public Education in the first quarter valued at approximately $799,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Public Education in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,159,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in American Public Education by 97.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 20,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 10,081 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in American Public Education during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $880,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.62% of the company’s stock.

American Public Education Company Profile

American Public Education, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides online and campus-based postsecondary education and career learning in the United States. It operates through three segments: American Public University System, Rasmussen University, and Hondros College of Nursing. The company offers 184 degree programs and 134 certificate programs in various fields of study, including nursing, national security, military studies, intelligence, homeland security, business, health science, information technology, justice studies, education, and liberal arts; and career learning opportunities in leadership, finance, human resources, and other fields of study critical to the federal government workforce.