Oak Ridge Investments LLC Reduces Stock Position in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE)

Oak Ridge Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,004 shares of the company’s stock after selling 483 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC owned about 0.06% of Grand Canyon Education worth $2,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LOPE. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 grew its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,323,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,725,000 after purchasing an additional 141,648 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 513,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,878,000 after purchasing an additional 68,579 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 1,481.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 64,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,069,000 after purchasing an additional 60,723 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 19.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 263,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,361,000 after buying an additional 43,005 shares during the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

LOPE opened at $169.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $165.09 and its 200 day moving average is $150.48. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $118.48 and a fifty-two week high of $176.77.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 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 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LOPE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $170.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Grand Canyon Education from $152.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com lowered Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barrington Research raised their price objective on Grand Canyon Education from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Grand Canyon Education

In other Grand Canyon Education news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.07, for a total transaction of $249,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 21,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,516,366.18. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.00% 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.