Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 5,224 Shares of Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR) by 30.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,937 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,224 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Laureate Education were worth $198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LAUR. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Laureate Education in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Laureate Education by 51.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Laureate Education during the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new stake in Laureate Education during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $95,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Laureate Education by 144.7% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 5,626 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Laureate Education from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Laureate Education Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LAUR opened at $19.71 on Tuesday. Laureate Education, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.45 and a 12-month high of $19.98. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $16.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.71. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.40. Laureate Education had a return on equity of 27.13% and a net margin of 15.76%. The business had revenue of $368.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Laureate Education, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

About Laureate Education

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.