Stride (NYSE:LRN) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Stride (NYSE:LRN) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

LRN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Stride in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Stride from $148.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Stride in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.40.

Stride Stock Performance

LRN opened at $143.66 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 5.39 and a quick ratio of 5.27. The firm has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.86, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.07. Stride has a 1-year low of $63.25 and a 1-year high of $171.17.

Stride (NYSE:LRN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $653.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $626.23 million. Stride had a net margin of 11.97% and a return on equity of 25.51%. Stride’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Stride will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Jeaho Rhyu sold 13,961 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total transaction of $2,270,896.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 706,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,895,378.98. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stride

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in Stride in the first quarter worth about $792,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stride in the first quarter valued at $461,000. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Stride by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,009,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,730,000 after acquiring an additional 52,000 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in shares of Stride during the 1st quarter worth about $326,000. Finally, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of Stride during the 1st quarter worth approximately $273,000. Institutional investors own 98.24% of the company’s stock.

About Stride

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.