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

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,065 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,016 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Grand Canyon Education were worth $7,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 7,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 98.2% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 218 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 281.9% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 453,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,362,000 after purchasing an additional 334,486 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 895 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

NASDAQ LOPE opened at $152.57 on Friday. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.00 and a 1 year high of $223.04. The company has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $163.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.77.

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