Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 645,835 Shares of Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN - Free Report) by 293.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 866,182 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 645,835 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.99% of Stride worth $90,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Stride during the third quarter valued at about $45,616,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 347,564 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 314,435 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in shares of Stride during the 3rd quarter valued at $21,044,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Stride by 416.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 275,483 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,501,000 after acquiring an additional 222,165 shares during the period. 98.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Stride from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Barrington Research lifted their price objective on Stride from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Stride from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Stride from $122.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $116.83.

Stride Price Performance

NYSE LRN traded down $4.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $134.38. 696,899 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 903,582. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 6.02 and a quick ratio of 5.93. The company has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.83. Stride, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.41 and a 1 year high of $145.00.

Stride (NYSE:LRN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.11. Stride had a return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 12.30%. On average, analysts predict that Stride, Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stride Company 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.