Aberdeen Group plc Acquires New Position in Stride, Inc. $LRN

Aberdeen Group plc acquired a new stake in Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,739,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,610,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LRN. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stride during the 2nd quarter valued at about $199,715,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stride by 61.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,277,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,799,000 after buying an additional 862,849 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stride in the second quarter worth about $71,036,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Stride in the second quarter worth about $63,624,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Stride in the second quarter worth about $49,350,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LRN shares. Zacks Research upgraded Stride from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Barrington Research dropped their price objective on shares of Stride from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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 note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Stride from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Stride presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stride news, Director Dylan G. Haggart bought 137,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $77.12 per share, with a total value of $10,604,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,091,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,288,999.36. This represents a 7.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian A. Shepherd bought 12,000 shares of Stride stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $76.69 per share, with a total value of $920,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,004,178.86. The trade was a 1,096.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders acquired a total of 513,318 shares of company stock worth $39,585,565 in the last 90 days. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Stride Price Performance

LRN stock traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $75.71. 630,095 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,112,252. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 2.53. Stride, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.61 and a 12-month high of $103.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $79.55 and its 200 day moving average is $86.01. The company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.16.

Stride (NYSE:LRN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $639.38 million during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Stride, Inc. will post 9.04 EPS for the current year.

About Stride

Stride, Inc. is an education technology company that provides online and blended learning programs, curriculum, and related services. Its offerings support students from kindergarten through high school, as well as learners pursuing career-focused education. The company works with public school districts and other education partners to deliver virtual and hybrid instruction. Its programs include online courses, teacher-led instruction, and career learning pathways designed to help students build skills for further education and employment.