Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Grand Canyon Education from $170.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barrington Research boosted their price objective on Grand Canyon Education from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $152.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

LOPE stock traded down $5.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $159.62. 333,625 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 183,291. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $142.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.92. Grand Canyon Education has a 52-week low of $118.48 and a 52-week high of $173.37. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.70.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS 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 company had revenue of $238.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Grand Canyon Education’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Grand Canyon Education news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of Grand Canyon Education stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,202,249.02. This trade represents a 6.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grand Canyon Education

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 0.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 18,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,692,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 1.6% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 5,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $814,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,849,000 after acquiring an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Trading LLC boosted its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Trading LLC now owns 4,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $656,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Grand Canyon Education during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,942,000. Institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

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.