Stifel Financial Corp Buys 7,940 Shares of Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN)

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) by 161.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,870 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,940 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Stride were worth $1,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stride during the 3rd quarter worth about $86,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Stride in the second quarter worth about $78,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Stride by 45.3% during 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. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its stake in shares of Stride by 24.2% during the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Guys Formula LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stride in the third quarter worth approximately $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.24% of the company’s stock.

Stride Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE LRN opened at $105.21 on Monday. Stride, Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.81 and a 12-month high of $112.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a current ratio of 5.60, a quick ratio of 5.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Stride (NYSE:LRN) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $551.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $504.29 million. Stride had a return on equity of 21.23% and a net margin of 11.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Stride, Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LRN shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Stride from $94.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Stride from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Stride from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barrington Research increased their price target on Stride from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Stride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.50.

Insider Activity at Stride

In related news, Director Todd Goldthwaite sold 8,028 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.54, for a total transaction of $734,883.12. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 85,058 shares in the company, valued at $7,786,209.32. The trade was a 8.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Stride Profile

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.