Hennessy Advisors Inc. Purchases 10,200 Shares of Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 160,400 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,200 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Stride were worth $16,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Stride by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 10,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 3,474 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,828 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its position 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 valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Stride by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Stride in the third quarter valued at approximately $430,000. 98.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stride Stock Performance

NYSE:LRN opened at $112.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 5.50 and a current ratio of 5.60. Stride, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.81 and a fifty-two week high of $115.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $106.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.21. The firm has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a PE ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.32.

Stride (NYSE:LRN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $551.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $504.29 million. Stride had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 21.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Stride, Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Stride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup increased their target price on Stride from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Stride from $94.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Stride from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Stride from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Stride presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.