American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) Short Interest Down 7.7% in December

American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 697,600 shares, a decline of 7.7% from the December 15th total of 756,200 shares. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 118,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APEI. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in American Public Education by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 51,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in American Public Education by 94.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 2,261 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in American Public Education by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 404,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,963,000 after acquiring an additional 2,573 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in American Public Education by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 121,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,625,000 after acquiring an additional 3,775 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of American Public Education by 17.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,000 after acquiring an additional 4,167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.62% of the company’s stock.

American Public Education Price Performance

Shares of APEI stock opened at $21.51 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.54. The company has a market cap of $380.94 million, a P/E ratio of 38.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 2.65, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. American Public Education has a twelve month low of $10.15 and a twelve month high of $23.84.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on APEI shares. StockNews.com upgraded American Public Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barrington Research upped their price objective on shares of American Public Education from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of American Public Education from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of American Public Education from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th.

American Public Education Company Profile

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.