Virtus Advisers LLC Invests $552,000 in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. $LOPE

Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crown Advisors Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education during the second quarter worth $5,009,000. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 523.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 194,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,370,000 after purchasing an additional 163,397 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 613,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,010,000 after purchasing an additional 90,070 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Grand Canyon Education by 109.4% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 25,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,308,000 after purchasing an additional 13,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Grand Canyon Education during the 2nd quarter worth about $7,980,000. Institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on LOPE shares. Barrington Research set a $200.00 price objective on Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Truist Financial set a $100.00 target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $198.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.67.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LOPE opened at $146.27 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $157.14. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.57. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.27 and a 52-week high of $223.04.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.14. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 36.62% and a net margin of 19.63%.The firm had revenue of $264.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $261.87 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 10.24 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.