Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $170.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $152.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barrington Research lifted their price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LOPE traded up $7.93 during trading on Thursday, hitting $171.47. The company had a trading volume of 342,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 180,151. The company has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.70. Grand Canyon Education has a 52 week low of $118.48 and a 52 week high of $172.88. The business’s 50-day moving average is $139.41 and its 200 day moving average is $141.36.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $238.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.69 million. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 31.49% and a net margin of 21.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Grand Canyon Education will post 7.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.23, for a total transaction of $211,845.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 22,674 shares in the company, valued at $3,202,249.02. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grand Canyon Education

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Grand Canyon Education during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 14,150.0% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 285 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Grand Canyon Education during the 3rd quarter worth $60,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 710.7% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 608 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 46.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Grand Canyon Education

Grand Canyon Education, Inc provides education services to colleges and universities in the United States. It offers technology services, including learning management system, internal administration, infrastructure, and support services; academic services, such as program and curriculum, faculty and related training and development, class scheduling, and skills and simulation lab sites; and counseling services and support services comprising admission, financial aid, and field experience and other counseling services.