Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 1,631 Shares of Stride, Inc. $LRN

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Stride, Inc. by 28.7%, selling 1,631 shares in the first quarter, leading to a total of 4,056 shares valued at approximately $513,000.
• Analysts are optimistic about Stride's prospects, with price targets recently raised by Barrington Research to $185.00 and Morgan Stanley to $159.00, reflecting an average target price of $146.40.
• Stride reported strong quarterly earnings, with $2.29 earnings per share and revenues of $653.65 million, surpassing expectations and representing a year-over-year growth of 22.4%.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its position in Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN - Free Report) by 28.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,056 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,631 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC's holdings in Stride were worth $513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LRN. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in Stride by 102.2% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,169,748 shares of the company's stock worth $147,973,000 after purchasing an additional 591,208 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Stride by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 617,894 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,164,000 after purchasing an additional 58,029 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Stride by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 613,820 shares of the company's stock worth $77,648,000 after buying an additional 67,184 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Stride by 120.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 607,581 shares of the company's stock worth $63,146,000 after buying an additional 332,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Stride by 1.3% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 467,774 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,173,000 after buying an additional 5,820 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.24% of the company's stock.

Stride Trading Down 11.6%

LRN stock traded down $18.42 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $139.94. 3,153,035 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 552,315. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $148.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 5.27 and a current ratio of 5.39. The company has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a PE ratio of 23.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.22. Stride, Inc. has a one year low of $63.25 and a one year high of $171.17.

Stride (NYSE:LRN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $653.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $626.23 million. Stride had a return on equity of 25.51% and a net margin of 11.97%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Stride, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Stride

In other Stride news, CEO James Jeaho Rhyu sold 13,961 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total transaction of $2,270,896.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 706,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,895,378.98. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on LRN. Barrington Research lifted their target price on shares of Stride from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Stride from $148.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Stride from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Stride currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $146.40.

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.