Legal & General Group Plc Trims Position in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 61,906 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,708 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Grand Canyon Education were worth $10,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LOPE. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new position in Grand Canyon Education during the fourth quarter worth approximately $421,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 9.2% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Grand Canyon Education during the fourth quarter valued at about $255,000. Postrock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Grand Canyon Education during the fourth quarter worth about $1,715,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,014,000 after purchasing an additional 3,630 shares during the period. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ LOPE opened at $174.32 on Friday. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.17 and a fifty-two week high of $192.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $174.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.28. The stock has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a PE ratio of 22.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.82.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.02. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 30.67%. The business had revenue of $292.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.62 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 8.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LOPE shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $181.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

Grand Canyon Education 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.