Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Price Target Raised to $186.00 at Robert W. Baird

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) had its price target raised by Robert W. Baird from $170.00 to $186.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on LOPE. StockNews.com cut Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Grand Canyon Education from $152.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barrington Research increased their price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

LOPE traded up $8.98 on Thursday, reaching $172.52. The company had a trading volume of 495,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 181,000. Grand Canyon Education has a 52-week low of $118.48 and a 52-week high of $172.88. The company has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.36.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.02. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 21.88% and a return on equity of 31.49%. The firm had revenue of $238.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Grand Canyon Education will post 7.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.23, for a total value of $211,845.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 22,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,202,249.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Grand Canyon Education

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LOPE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Grand Canyon Education by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,005,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,363,000 after purchasing an additional 24,871 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 850,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,971,000 after buying an additional 11,179 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 1.5% during the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 756,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,908,000 after buying an additional 11,540 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 1.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 716,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,197,000 after acquiring an additional 12,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 47.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 538,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,452,000 after acquiring an additional 173,800 shares during the period. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Grand Canyon Education Company Profile

Grand Canyon Education, Inc provides education services to colleges and universities in the United States. It offers technology services, including learning management system, internal administration, infrastructure, and support services; academic services, such as program and curriculum, faculty and related training and development, class scheduling, and skills and simulation lab sites; and counseling services and support services comprising admission, financial aid, and field experience and other counseling services.