Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) EVP Iole Lucchese Sells 289,624 Shares

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) EVP Iole Lucchese sold 289,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total transaction of $11,515,450.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 289,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,515,410.48. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Scholastic Stock Performance

Shares of SCHL stock traded down $0.84 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $39.11. The company had a trading volume of 216,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 445,203. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.12. Scholastic Corporation has a one year low of $22.68 and a one year high of $48.07. The firm has a market cap of $737.61 million, a PE ratio of 16.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.01.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.03. Scholastic had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 5.29%. The company had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $517.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Scholastic Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Scholastic

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHL. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Scholastic in the second quarter worth about $120,724,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Scholastic by 879.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,159,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,880 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Scholastic by 4,326.9% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 871,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,094,000 after acquiring an additional 851,919 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Scholastic in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,288,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Scholastic in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,662,000. 82.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCHL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research cut Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered Scholastic from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on Scholastic from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $42.00.

Scholastic Company Profile

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is a global company dedicated to children’s publishing, education technology and distribution services. The company’s core business encompasses three primary segments: Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution, Education Technology, and International operations. Through its publishing arm, Scholastic produces and distributes a wide range of children’s books, novels, nonfiction titles and classroom magazines under well-known imprints such as Scholastic Press, Graphix and Chicken House.