Insider Selling: Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Director Sells $130,812.50 in Stock

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) Director Kaya Henderson sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.25, for a total transaction of $130,812.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,298.25. The trade was a 31.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Scholastic Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SCHL opened at $41.98 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $791.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Scholastic Corporation has a 12 month low of $22.68 and a 12 month high of $48.07.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.03. Scholastic had a return on equity of 5.29% and a net margin of 3.58%.The company had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $517.06 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Scholastic Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Scholastic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Scholastic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio is 34.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Scholastic by 160.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 157,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,972,000 after acquiring an additional 96,998 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 4.8% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Scholastic by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 164,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,100,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Scholastic by 457.8% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 81,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,537,000 after purchasing an additional 66,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Scholastic by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 23,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 3,365 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SCHL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Scholastic from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised their target price on shares of Scholastic from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scholastic currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target 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.