Graham (NYSE:GHC) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graham (NYSE:GHC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday.

Graham Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE GHC opened at $698.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07 and a beta of 1.11. Graham has a 12-month low of $551.36 and a 12-month high of $771.05. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $727.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $675.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Graham (NYSE:GHC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $10.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Graham had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 5.23%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter.

Graham Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 18th will be paid a $1.72 dividend. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 17th. Graham’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graham

In other Graham news, Director Katharine Weymouth sold 556 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.99, for a total value of $396,422.44. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,989.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 20.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GHC. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Graham by 27,384.9% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 220,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 219,901 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new position in Graham during the first quarter worth about $24,767,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Graham during the fourth quarter worth about $23,344,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Graham by 89.1% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 59,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,590,000 after purchasing an additional 27,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Graham during the fourth quarter worth about $10,418,000. 62.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graham Company Profile

Graham Holdings Company, through its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified education and media company in the United States and internationally. It provides test preparation services and materials; professional training and exam preparation for professional certifications and licensures; and non-academic operations support services to the Purdue University Global; operations support services for online courses and programs; training and test preparation services for accounting and financial services professionals; English-language training, academic preparation programs, and test preparation for English proficiency exams; and A-level examination preparation services, as well as operates colleges, business school, higher education institution, and an online learning institution.