Cerity Partners LLC Cuts Holdings in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO)

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its position in Perdoceo Education Co. (NASDAQ:PRDO - Free Report) by 15.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 417,751 shares of the company's stock after selling 77,966 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.64% of Perdoceo Education worth $9,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Perdoceo Education by 1,306.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,350 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Perdoceo Education by 38.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,762 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Perdoceo Education during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Perdoceo Education by 650.6% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Perdoceo Education during the second quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on PRDO. Barrington Research increased their price objective on Perdoceo Education from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Perdoceo Education from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP John Robert Kline sold 30,574 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.47, for a total transaction of $809,293.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 130,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,451,820.35. This represents a 18.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Patrick W. Gross sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.74, for a total transaction of $90,916.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 69,635 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,862,039.90. This trade represents a 4.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,450 shares of company stock worth $1,036,206 over the last three months. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Perdoceo Education Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:PRDO opened at $27.38 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of 13.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.62. Perdoceo Education Co. has a 12 month low of $16.12 and a 12 month high of $29.47.

Perdoceo Education (NASDAQ:PRDO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $169.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.60 million. Perdoceo Education had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 20.42%. Perdoceo Education's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Perdoceo Education Co. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Perdoceo Education Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Perdoceo Education's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

About Perdoceo Education

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.