Invesco Ltd. Grows Stake in Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR)

Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR - Free Report) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,761,870 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 122,094 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.17% of Laureate Education worth $32,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LAUR. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Laureate Education by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 3,386 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 48.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,049 shares of the company's stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 6,976 shares of the company's stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Laureate Education during the fourth quarter worth $216,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Laureate Education by 112.8% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 12,180 shares of the company's stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 6,455 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.27% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ian Kendell Snow sold 520,831 shares of Laureate Education stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.47, for a total value of $9,098,917.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Laureate Education from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th.

Laureate Education Stock Performance

NASDAQ LAUR traded up $0.51 on Wednesday, hitting $19.93. 115,923 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 787,443. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 0.43. Laureate Education, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.26 and a 1-year high of $21.73. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $19.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $423.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $411.50 million. Laureate Education had a return on equity of 32.35% and a net margin of 18.92%. As a group, analysts expect that Laureate Education, Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Laureate Education Company Profile

Laureate Education, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers higher education programs and services to students through a network of universities and higher education institutions. The company provides a range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the areas of business and management, medicine and health sciences, and engineering and information technology through campus-based, online, and hybrid programs.