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 report report published on Friday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on LOPE. 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $152.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barrington Research upped their target price on Grand Canyon Education from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ:LOPE traded down $5.26 on Friday, hitting $159.62. The stock had a trading volume of 333,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 183,291. Grand Canyon Education has a 52 week low of $118.48 and a 52 week high of $173.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $142.39 and its 200 day moving average is $142.92. The company has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.70.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.01. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 31.01% and a net margin of 22.09%. The company had revenue of $238.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Grand Canyon Education will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the 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 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 represents a 6.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Grand Canyon Education

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

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.