Stride (NYSE:LRN) Stock Falls 5.3% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) were down 5.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $74.65 and last traded at $74.76. Approximately 1,585,938 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 71% from the average daily volume of 928,807 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Stride from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. William Blair cut shares of Stride from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Stride from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.75.

Stride Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.12. The company has a quick ratio of 5.81, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.04, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.14.

Stride (NYSE:LRN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $639.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $612.25 million. Stride had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 22.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Stride, Inc. will post 8.67 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Stride

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LRN. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Stride by 1,119.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 4,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 4,231 shares in the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Stride during the third quarter worth $206,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new position in Stride during the third quarter valued at about $198,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Stride by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Stride by 14.5% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. 98.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Stride

Stride, Inc is an education technology company that provides online and blended learning programs for K-12 students. The company partners with public school districts, charter schools and other education organizations to deliver digital curricula, instructional software, teaching support and student services. Its offerings are designed to support full-time virtual schools, supplemental courses and traditional schools incorporating online learning.

Stride also provides career-focused education through programs that combine academic instruction with career exploration, technical training and industry-aligned learning opportunities.