Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) Hits New 12-Month High After Earnings Beat

Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $20.75 and last traded at $21.02, with a volume of 196330 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $20.12.

The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.20. Laureate Education had a return on equity of 27.13% and a net margin of 15.76%. The firm had revenue of $423.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $411.50 million.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Laureate Education from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Corro Pedro Del sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.58, for a total transaction of $489,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 29,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at $581,251.88. This represents a 45.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Laureate Education

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LAUR. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,259 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 3,386 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Laureate Education by 62.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Laureate Education in the 3rd quarter valued at $95,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Laureate Education by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 6,976 shares of the company's stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.27% of the company's stock.

Laureate Education Stock Down 6.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.35.

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.