Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) Shares Sold by Prospect Capital Advisors LLC

Prospect Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 27.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,350 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,940 shares during the period. Grand Canyon Education comprises about 7.9% of Prospect Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Prospect Capital Advisors LLC owned about 0.29% of Grand Canyon Education worth $13,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,513,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,870,000 after purchasing an additional 189,843 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 494,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,033,000 after purchasing an additional 39,136 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 68.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 392,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,786,000 after purchasing an additional 159,827 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Grand Canyon Education in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,838,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Grand Canyon Education by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 307,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,320,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

LOPE stock opened at $194.25 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.10, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $175.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.60. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.69 and a fifty-two week high of $202.28.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.06. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 30.67%. The business had revenue of $289.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $287.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.35 earnings per share. Grand Canyon Education’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 8.81 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on LOPE. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Grand Canyon Education from $181.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barrington Research upped their price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

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.