Insider Selling: Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) EVP Sells $11,515,450.24 in Stock

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) EVP Iole Lucchese sold 289,624 shares of Scholastic stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 289,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,515,410.48. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Scholastic Trading Down 0.4%

SCHL stock opened at $38.96 on Friday. Scholastic Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.68 and a 52-week high of $48.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $734.79 million, a P/E ratio of 16.65, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.15.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $517.06 million. Scholastic had a return on equity of 5.29% and a net margin of 3.58%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Scholastic Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scholastic

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SCHL. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Scholastic during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Scholastic in the second quarter worth approximately $115,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Scholastic by 458.1% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in Scholastic in the 2nd quarter valued at $235,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Scholastic by 127.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912 shares during the last quarter. 82.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Scholastic

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.