Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Position in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. $LOPE

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,803,242 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,934 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.10% of Grand Canyon Education worth $615,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 4,339.5% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 1,866 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Grand Canyon Education by 14.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 115,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,985,000 after acquiring an additional 15,019 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 2.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Grand Canyon Education by 7.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 123,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,318,000 after purchasing an additional 8,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 156.9% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 37,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,462,000 after purchasing an additional 22,812 shares during the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on LOPE. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.00.

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

Shares of Grand Canyon Education stock opened at $156.83 on Wednesday. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a one year low of $149.37 and a one year high of $223.04. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.74.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.19 by $0.02. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 33.28%. The business had revenue of $308.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $307.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 8.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Grand Canyon Education Profile

Grand Canyon Education, Inc provides a suite of higher?education services through a long-term agreement with Grand Canyon University (GCU), one of the nation’s largest private Christian universities. The company’s offerings encompass a full range of academic and operational support functions, including enrollment management, student recruitment, curriculum development, instructional delivery, and technology infrastructure. Through its online program management capabilities, Grand Canyon Education helps design, market and deliver undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs to meet the needs of both traditional and non?traditional learners.

Core services include digital marketing, admissions support, student success coaching, learning management systems and faculty recruitment.