Stride (NYSE:LRN) Director Brian Shepherd Buys 12,000 Shares of Stock

Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) Director Brian Shepherd acquired 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $76.69 per share, with a total value of $920,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 13,094 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,178.86. This represents a 1,096.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Stride Stock Performance

Shares of LRN stock opened at $79.23 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $80.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.86. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.16. Stride, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.61 and a 1 year high of $103.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a current ratio of 2.56.

Stride (NYSE:LRN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.30. Stride had a return on equity of 22.06% and a net margin of 13.18%. The company had revenue of $639.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $612.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. Stride’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Stride, Inc. will post 9.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting Stride

Here are the key news stories impacting Stride this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director Dylan Haggart bought 54,200 shares on Oct. 30, 137,500 on Nov. 2 and 36,357 on Nov. 3, spending about $17.6 million in total at prices ranging from $74.91 to $78.34. Director Brian A. Shepherd also bought 12,000 shares on Nov. 2 and 10,000 on Nov. 3, investing about $1.67 million. The scale and clustering of the purchases may bolster confidence, though insider buying does not guarantee future performance. SEC filing for Haggart transactions SEC filing for Shepherd transactions
• Neutral Sentiment: The articles also cite Stride’s latest reported quarter, in which EPS of $1.37 and revenue of $639.4 million exceeded analyst estimates. That performance provides favorable context but was reported earlier and is not a new catalyst in these updates.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stride

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LRN. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Stride by 108.7% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Stride during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stride during the 2nd quarter worth about $49,000. John Boyer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Stride during the 3rd quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Stride in the second quarter worth approximately $88,000. 98.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LRN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barrington Research lowered 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Stride from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Stride from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Stride from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, William Blair lowered shares of Stride from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

About Stride

Stride, Inc is an education technology company that provides online and blended learning programs for K-12 students. The company partners with public school districts, charter schools and other education organizations to deliver digital curricula, instructional software, teaching support and student services. Its offerings are designed to support full-time virtual schools, supplemental courses and traditional schools incorporating online learning.

Stride also provides career-focused education through programs that combine academic instruction with career exploration, technical training and industry-aligned learning opportunities.