Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 220,347 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,505 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.51% of Stride worth $18,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new position in shares of Stride in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $13,127,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its stake in Stride by 19.4% during the second quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 74,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,242,000 after buying an additional 12,083 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Stride during the second quarter valued at $78,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Stride in the second quarter valued at $292,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stride in the 2nd quarter worth about $8,701,000. 98.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 sale, the director now owns 85,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,786,209.32. This trade represents a 8.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LRN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Stride from $94.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Stride from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barrington Research upped their price objective on Stride from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Stride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Stride from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.50.

Stride Price Performance

LRN opened at $105.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.60, a quick ratio of 5.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.14. The company has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.30. Stride, Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.81 and a 12-month high of $112.80.

Stride (NYSE:LRN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.72. Stride had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 21.23%. The business had revenue of $551.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $504.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Stride, Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.