Insider Selling: Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) EVP Sells 400,000 Shares of Stock

Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) EVP Iole Lucchese sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.51, for a total transaction of $13,404,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 579,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,410,566.97. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Scholastic Stock Performance

Shares of SCHL traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $35.68. 163,612 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 255,242. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.77 and its 200-day moving average is $38.07. Scholastic Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.50 and a fifty-two week high of $45.98. The company has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61 and a beta of 1.05.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.80). The company had revenue of $323.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.21 million. Scholastic had a net margin of 3.16% and a return on equity of 5.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.57) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Scholastic Co. will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scholastic

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,957,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,503,000 after purchasing an additional 94,171 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Scholastic by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,270,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,530,000 after purchasing an additional 27,184 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Scholastic by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,934,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,265,000 after purchasing an additional 516,720 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Scholastic by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,337,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,145,000 after purchasing an additional 22,518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Scholastic by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,115,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,189,000 after purchasing an additional 4,265 shares during the last quarter. 82.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd.

About Scholastic

Scholastic Corporation publishes and distributes children's books worldwide. It operates in three segments: Children's Book Publishing and Distribution, Education Solutions, and International. The Children's Book Publishing and Distribution segment engages in publication and distribution of children's books, eBooks, media, and interactive products through its school book clubs and fair channels, and trade channel.