Morgan Stanley Cuts Stride (NYSE:LRN) Price Target to $95.00

Stride (NYSE:LRN) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $95.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

LRN has been the topic of several other reports. Barrington Research cut their target price on shares of Stride from $185.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Stride in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research lowered Stride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets set a $108.00 price objective on Stride and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Stride from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Stride presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.75.

Stride Stock Performance

Shares of Stride stock opened at $66.06 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $85.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.81. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 6.69 and a current ratio of 6.78. Stride has a one year low of $60.61 and a one year high of $171.17.

Stride (NYSE:LRN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $620.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $615.50 million. Stride had a net margin of 12.76% and a return on equity of 26.29%. Stride’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Stride will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stride

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stride in the first quarter worth $792,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Stride by 33.8% in the second quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 43,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,248,000 after purchasing an additional 10,870 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Stride by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,009,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,730,000 after acquiring an additional 52,000 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in Stride during the first quarter valued at $326,000. Finally, SG Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stride during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,859,000. 98.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stride News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Stride this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Lead‑plaintiff deadline set — Investors who purchased LRN between October 22, 2024 and October 28, 2025 have until January 12, 2026 to seek appointment as lead plaintiff; multiple firms are circulating notices. This is procedural but concentrates potential litigation claims and claimant activity. Berger Montague notice
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple class actions and firm investigations — Numerous plaintiff firms (Robbins LLP, Glancy Prongay & Murray, Johnson Fistel, Faruqi & Faruqi, Levi & Korsinsky, Hagens Berman, others) have filed or announced investigations alleging Stride misled investors about enrollment metrics and concealed a catastrophic technology/platform failure. Those allegations underpin potential damages and reputational risk. Robbins LLP notice
• Negative Sentiment: Allegations point to “ghost students” and concealed operational failure — Hagens Berman highlights claims linking alleged inflated enrollment and a failed platform upgrade to a ~54% stock drop, framing a narrative of operational and disclosure failures that could amplify damages if proven. Hagens Berman alert
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst action increases downside pressure — Morgan Stanley cut LRN’s price target (reported reductions from $130 to $95) and issued a negative forecast, signaling lowered forward expectations from a major sell‑side firm which can pressure sentiment and institutional holdings. MSN: Morgan Stanley cut
• Negative Sentiment: What investors should watch — potential outcomes include further analyst downgrades, regulatory inquiries, settlement or trial costs, and management turnover; any of these could materially affect earnings and valuation. Elevated trading volume shows investors are reacting now to news flow rather than fundamentals. (No link)

About Stride

Stride, Inc (NYSE:LRN) is a technology-driven education company that designs and delivers online learning solutions for students and adult learners. Through long-term partnerships with state-authorized public school districts, Stride operates virtual academies that serve K-12 students across the United States. The company’s blended-learning model combines digital curriculum, live teaching support and data analytics to personalize instruction and monitor student progress.

In addition to its K-12 offerings, Stride provides a portfolio of career and workforce readiness programs under its Stride Career Prep division.