American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 691,500 shares, a decrease of 13.2% from the February 13th total of 796,800 shares. Approximately 4.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 106,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.5 days.

American Public Education Stock Performance

Shares of APEI opened at $22.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 2.65 and a current ratio of 2.65. American Public Education has a twelve month low of $11.80 and a twelve month high of $25.60. The firm has a market cap of $407.25 million, a P/E ratio of 40.41, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $21.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on APEI shares. William Blair upgraded shares of American Public Education from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of American Public Education from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Public Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of American Public Education in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $24.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Thomas Beckett sold 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.07, for a total value of $81,659.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 60,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,329,783.71. This represents a 5.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Public Education

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in American Public Education by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 404,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,963,000 after buying an additional 2,573 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in American Public Education by 27.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 275,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,069,000 after purchasing an additional 58,984 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in American Public Education by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in American Public Education during the fourth quarter worth $121,000. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in American Public Education during the fourth quarter worth $858,000. 79.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About American Public Education

American Public Education, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides online and campus-based postsecondary education and career learning in the United States. It operates through three segments: American Public University System, Rasmussen University, and Hondros College of Nursing. The company offers 184 degree programs and 134 certificate programs in various fields of study, including nursing, national security, military studies, intelligence, homeland security, business, health science, information technology, justice studies, education, and liberal arts; and career learning opportunities in leadership, finance, human resources, and other fields of study critical to the federal government workforce.