Van Berkom & Associates Inc. Sells 27,817 Shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. $LOPE

Van Berkom & Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 4.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 585,558 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,817 shares during the quarter. Grand Canyon Education accounts for about 3.3% of Van Berkom & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Van Berkom & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Grand Canyon Education were worth $99,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LOPE. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $693,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 1,943.2% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 17,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,967,000 after buying an additional 16,595 shares in the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 38.3% in the first quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 4,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 1,156 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 54.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the period. Finally, Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 1.5% in the first quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $788,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Grand Canyon Education from $198.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Grand Canyon Education from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $100.00 target price on Grand Canyon Education in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.67.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

NASDAQ LOPE opened at $140.44 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $150.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.92. The stock has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.57. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $138.34 and a fifty-two week high of $223.04.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.08. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 34.72% and a net margin of 19.54%.The company had revenue of $308.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $307.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.57 EPS. Grand Canyon Education’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 10.04 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.