Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Raised 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 report published on Thursday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Grand Canyon Education from $152.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective 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. Finally, Barrington Research boosted their target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Up 5.5 %

NASDAQ:LOPE opened at $172.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.70. Grand Canyon Education has a 12 month low of $118.48 and a 12 month high of $172.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $139.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.66.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.01. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 31.20% and a net margin of 22.09%. The business had revenue of $238.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. Grand Canyon Education’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Grand Canyon Education will post 7.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of Grand Canyon Education 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 completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 22,674 shares in the company, valued at $3,202,249.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Grand Canyon Education

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education during the second quarter worth $1,961,000. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in Grand Canyon Education during the first quarter worth about $2,180,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 66,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,865,000 after buying an additional 4,388 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 450.7% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,459,000 after acquiring an additional 14,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 46,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,284,000 after acquiring an additional 5,991 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

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.