Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on LOPE. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Grand Canyon Education from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barrington Research reissued an outperform rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LOPE opened at $139.23 on Tuesday. Grand Canyon Education has a one year low of $112.38 and a one year high of $157.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $143.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $140.69. The company has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.69.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.17. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 31.49% and a net margin of 21.88%. The firm had revenue of $227.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $223.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Grand Canyon Education will post 7.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Grand Canyon Education

In other news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.23, for a total value of $211,845.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 22,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,202,249.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Grand Canyon Education

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LOPE. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Grand Canyon Education in the 2nd quarter worth $1,961,000. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education during the first quarter worth about $2,180,000. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 463,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,077,000 after purchasing an additional 39,743 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 66,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,865,000 after purchasing an additional 4,388 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 450.7% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,459,000 after purchasing an additional 14,386 shares in the last quarter. 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.