Short Interest in Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR) Decreases By 20.4%

Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR) saw a large decline in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,010,000 shares, a decline of 20.4% from the December 31st total of 3,780,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 615,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Laureate Education Stock Performance

LAUR stock traded down $0.34 on Friday, hitting $18.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 564,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 474,620. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.87. Laureate Education has a 1 year low of $12.52 and a 1 year high of $19.98. The stock has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.83. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $368.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.80 million. Laureate Education had a net margin of 15.76% and a return on equity of 27.13%. Laureate Education’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Laureate Education will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Corro Pedro Del sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.58, for a total transaction of $489,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 29,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $581,251.88. The trade was a 45.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Laureate Education

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAUR. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Laureate Education by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 763 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Laureate Education during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in Laureate Education by 62.3% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in Laureate Education during the 3rd quarter worth $95,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Laureate Education during the 3rd quarter worth $147,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.27% of the company’s stock.

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.