Hedge Funds’ Favorite Education Stocks

#2. Apollo Education Group Inc. (NASDAQ:APOL)

– Number of investors with long positions as of March 31: 22

– Aggregate value of investors’ holdings as of March 31: $178.53 Million

Apollo Education Group Inc. (NASDAQ:APOL) has lost some appeal among the hedge funds monitored by Insider Monkey, as the number of funds with stakes in the company decreased to 22 from 24 during the first quarter. Correspondingly, the aggregate value of their stakes fell to $178.53 million from $199.27 million quarter-over-quarter. Roughly 20% of Apollo’s total number of outstanding shares were stockpiled by the 22 hedge fund vehicles included in our database. Just recently, shareholders of private education provider Apollo Education Group approved a $1.14 billion sale that would hand the parent to the University of Phoenix over a consortium of three private investors, which includes funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE:APO), the Vistria Group LP and Najafi Companies LLC. At closing, Apollo Education Group shareholders will receive $10 per share in cash for each share owned. The new owners have not outlined their plans for the for-profit school just yet, but the new ownership structure will most likely transform the University of Phoenix. Donald Yacktman’s Yacktman Asset Management had 2.12 million shares of Apollo Education Group Inc. (NASDAQ:APOL) in its portfolio at the end of March.

#1. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co (NASDAQ:HMHC)

– Number of investors with long positions as of March 31: 22

– Aggregate value of investors’ holdings as of March 31: $848.20 Million

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co (NASDAQ:HMHC) also fell out of favor with the hedge funds monitored by Insider Monkey in the first quarter of 2016, during which the number of funds with equity holdings in HMHC fell to 22 from 26. What’s more, the overall value of those holdings decreased to $848.20 million from $928.95 million. The 22 smart money investors with stakes in HMHC accumulated almost 35% of the company’s outstanding common stock. The global learning company has seen its shares go down by 20% since the start of the year. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s net sales for the first three months of 2016 were $205.82 million, up from $162.67 million reported a year ago. The increase was mainly driven by the $37.0 million net sales impact from the acquisition of Scholastic Corporation’s Educational Technology and Services business in May 2015. Marc Lasry’s Avenue Capital trimmed its stake in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co (NASDAQ:HMHC) by 27% during the March quarter to 3.16 million shares.

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