Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 318,963 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,680 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.49% of Perdoceo Education worth $8,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Perdoceo Education by 38.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 3,465.3% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 6,099 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Perdoceo Education by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 97,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 7,328 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in Perdoceo Education during the 3rd quarter valued at about $234,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Perdoceo Education by 71.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 73,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,642,000 after acquiring an additional 30,725 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PRDO. Barrington Research increased their price objective on Perdoceo Education from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Perdoceo Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Insider Transactions at Perdoceo Education

In other Perdoceo Education news, CEO Todd S. Nelson sold 12,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total transaction of $327,888.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 615,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,186,674.13. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Robert Kline sold 12,148 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total value of $313,296.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 130,405 shares in the company, valued at $3,363,144.95. This trade represents a 8.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Perdoceo Education Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PRDO opened at $25.60 on Friday. Perdoceo Education Co. has a 52-week low of $16.56 and a 52-week high of $29.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $27.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 5.45 and a current ratio of 4.84. The company has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.07.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $176.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.12 million. Perdoceo Education had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 16.85%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Perdoceo Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Perdoceo Education’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.