Capella Education Company (CPLA) Lowered to “Strong Sell” at BidaskClub

Capella Education Company (NASDAQ:CPLA) was downgraded by stock analysts at BidaskClub from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday, August 5th.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on CPLA. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Capella Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $97.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Barrington Research boosted their target price on shares of Capella Education from $85.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Capella Education from $86.00 to $79.45 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.69.

Capella Education (NASDAQ CPLA) traded down 0.15% during trading on Friday, reaching $67.35. 57,738 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $78.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.51. Capella Education has a 52 week low of $56.88 and a 52 week high of $99.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $786.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.39 and a beta of 0.49.

Capella Education (NASDAQ:CPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. Capella Education had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 20.23%. The firm had revenue of $109.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Capella Education will post $3.54 EPS for the current year.

In other news, CEO J Kevin Gilligan sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.31, for a total value of $172,620.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,543,760. Corporate insiders own 3.56% of the company’s stock.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CPLA. Riverhead Capital Management LLC increased its position in Capella Education by 105.3% in the second quarter. Riverhead Capital Management LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in Capella Education by 1.6% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 1,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Flinton Capital Management LLC increased its position in Capella Education by 76.9% in the second quarter. Flinton Capital Management LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Capella Education by 371.6% in the second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Capella Education by 38.8% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.09% of the company’s stock.

About Capella Education

Capella Education Company is an education services company. The Company provides direct path between learning and employment through its online postsecondary education offerings and through programs to develop job-ready skills for demand markets. The company’s segments include post-secondary segment and job-ready skills segment.