Kera Capital Partners Inc. Invests $205,000 in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE)

Kera Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 12.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,323,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,725,000 after purchasing an additional 141,648 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Grand Canyon Education by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 883,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,391,000 after buying an additional 8,159 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 716,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,197,000 after acquiring an additional 12,509 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 47.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 538,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,452,000 after acquiring an additional 173,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 15.4% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 513,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,878,000 after acquiring an additional 68,579 shares during the period. 94.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

NASDAQ LOPE opened at $169.99 on Monday. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $118.48 and a fifty-two week high of $176.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $165.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.54.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.01. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 22.09% and a return on equity of 31.01%. The firm had revenue of $238.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on LOPE. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Grand Canyon Education from $152.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com cut Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barrington Research upped their price objective on Grand Canyon Education from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $170.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Activity

In other Grand Canyon Education news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.07, for a total transaction of $249,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 21,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,516,366.18. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Grand Canyon Education Profile

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.