Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 232 Shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 120.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 425 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 232 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Grand Canyon Education were worth $56,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LOPE. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,307,000 after buying an additional 3,737 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 16.4% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 57.8% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,553 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Grand Canyon Education during the first quarter valued at about $686,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 32.0% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 25,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,488,000 after purchasing an additional 6,205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Grand Canyon Education

In other Grand Canyon Education news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.65, for a total value of $198,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 25,674 shares in the company, valued at $3,405,656.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Barrington Research raised their price objective on Grand Canyon Education from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th.

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

Shares of LOPE stock opened at $132.45 on Friday. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.65 and a 1-year high of $144.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $132.66 and its 200 day moving average is $129.58. The company has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.59.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by $0.05. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 31.75% and a net margin of 21.33%. The company had revenue of $278.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.00 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 7.65 EPS for the current year.

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.