Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) Position Lessened by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,695 shares of the company’s stock after selling 389 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Stride were worth $3,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Stride by 3.9% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in Stride by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 12,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Stride by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 40,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Stride by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 33,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,850,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stride by 6.6% in the third quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 5,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. 98.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Stride from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Stride from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Stride from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Stride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barrington Research lifted their target price on Stride from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.50.

Stride Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LRN opened at $113.90 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $106.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.80. The company has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.32. Stride, Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.81 and a 12-month high of $115.42. The company has a quick ratio of 5.50, a current ratio of 5.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Stride (NYSE:LRN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $551.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $504.29 million. Stride had a return on equity of 21.23% and a net margin of 11.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Stride, Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stride

In other news, Director Todd Goldthwaite sold 8,028 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.54, for a total transaction of $734,883.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 85,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,786,209.32. This trade represents a 8.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Stride Company Profile

Stride, Inc, a technology-based education service company, engages in the provision of proprietary and third-party online curriculum, software systems, and educational services in the United States and internationally. Its technology-based products and services enable clients to attract, enroll, educate, track progress, support, and facilitate individualized learning for students.