Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $18.80 Million Stake in Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 220,347 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,505 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Stride were worth $18,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stride in the third quarter valued at approximately $86,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Stride during the 2nd quarter worth about $78,000. Motco acquired a new position in shares of Stride during the first quarter valued at about $74,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stride in the first quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stride by 45.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.24% of the company’s stock.

Stride Stock Performance

Shares of LRN opened at $99.65 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $84.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 5.50 and a current ratio of 5.60. Stride, Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.81 and a twelve month high of $103.98. The firm has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.27.

Stride (NYSE:LRN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $551.08 million for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Stride, Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Stride

In other news, Director Todd Goldthwaite sold 8,028 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.54, for a total value 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. The trade was a 8.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Stride from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Stride from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on Stride in a report on Thursday, August 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Barrington Research increased their target price on Stride from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Stride from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Stride currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.17.

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.