Morgan Stanley Raises Stride (NYSE:LRN) Price Target to $109.00

Stride (NYSE:LRN) had its price target lifted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $109.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 1.82% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on LRN. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Stride from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barrington Research boosted their price objective on shares of Stride from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Stride from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Stride from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Stride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.50.

Stride Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:LRN traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $107.05. The company had a trading volume of 68,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 826,119. Stride has a 1-year low of $54.81 and a 1-year high of $112.80. The company has a quick ratio of 5.50, a current ratio of 5.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.30. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $93.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.41.

Stride (NYSE:LRN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $551.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $504.29 million. Stride had a return on equity of 21.23% and a net margin of 11.38%. The business’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Stride will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Stride

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stride

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Stride by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,122,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,608,000 after buying an additional 355,614 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Stride by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,170,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,851,000 after purchasing an additional 13,050 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Stride by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 964,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,315,000 after purchasing an additional 35,349 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Stride by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 929,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,326,000 after purchasing an additional 314,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Stride by 72.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 827,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,594,000 after acquiring an additional 347,564 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.24% of the company’s stock.

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.