Sheets Smith Wealth Management Takes Position in Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in shares of Stride by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 295,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,715,000 after buying an additional 62,590 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in Stride by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 160,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,670,000 after acquiring an additional 10,200 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Stride by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 10,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 3,474 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Stride by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 115,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,177,000 after purchasing an additional 4,828 shares during the period. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in shares of Stride by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.24% of the company’s stock.

Stride Stock Performance

Stride stock opened at $117.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $107.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.65. Stride, Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.81 and a 52-week high of $118.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 5.60 and a quick ratio of 5.50.

Stride (NYSE:LRN) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $504.29 million. Stride had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 21.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Stride, Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on LRN. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Stride from $94.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Stride from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Stride from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on Stride from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Barrington Research boosted their price target on shares of Stride from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Three 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.50.

Insider Transactions at Stride

In related news, Director Todd Goldthwaite sold 8,028 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 85,058 shares in the company, valued at $7,786,209.32. This represents a 8.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

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.