Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on LOPE. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Grand Canyon Education from $152.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $170.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barrington Research upped 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, November 7th.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of Grand Canyon Education stock opened at $159.62 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $142.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.92. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.70. Grand Canyon Education has a 12-month low of $118.48 and a 12-month high of $173.37.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.23, for a total transaction of $211,845.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 22,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,202,249.02. This trade represents a 6.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grand Canyon Education

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LOPE. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 47.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 538,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,452,000 after acquiring an additional 173,800 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 12.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,323,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,725,000 after acquiring an additional 141,648 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 78.5% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 308,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,977,000 after acquiring an additional 135,626 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 41.0% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 285,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,882,000 after purchasing an additional 82,855 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 89.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 173,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,215,000 after purchasing an additional 81,853 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Grand Canyon Education Company 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.