Grand Canyon Education, Inc. $LOPE Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,065 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,016 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.17% of Grand Canyon Education worth $7,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 6,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 70.7% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. increased its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 3,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 10,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,275,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on LOPE. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a report on Thursday. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a report on Friday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.00.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

Grand Canyon Education stock opened at $152.57 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $163.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.77. The company has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.56. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.00 and a fifty-two week high of $223.04.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $308.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $307.75 million. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 34.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Grand Canyon Education Company 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.