Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from Morgan Stanley

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $38.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on PXED. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Phoenix Education Partners from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Phoenix Education Partners to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Phoenix Education Partners from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Phoenix Education Partners from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, B. Riley Financial lowered their price target on Phoenix Education Partners from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Phoenix Education Partners presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.60.

Phoenix Education Partners Price Performance

Shares of PXED opened at $23.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $860.95 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.37. Phoenix Education Partners has a 1-year low of $23.52 and a 1-year high of $38.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $271.80 million for the quarter. Phoenix Education Partners had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 60.06%. On average, research analysts forecast that Phoenix Education Partners will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Terrence Woods sold 19,453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.89, for a total value of $503,638.17. Following the sale, the insider owned 62,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,622,836.98. This represents a 23.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Phoenix Education Partners

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of Phoenix Education Partners in the third quarter valued at $51,000. Curated Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Phoenix Education Partners during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,653,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Phoenix Education Partners by 48.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 743,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,411,000 after buying an additional 241,997 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Phoenix Education Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Phoenix Education Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,085,000.

Phoenix Education Partners Company Profile

Phoenix Education Partners, Inc (NYSE: PXED) is an education company focused on providing higher education and career-oriented learning opportunities for working adults. Its principal institution is University of Phoenix, which offers programs designed to accommodate students balancing education with professional and personal responsibilities.

Through University of Phoenix, the company provides online and flexible learning options in areas such as business, education, health care, information technology, nursing, and criminal justice.