Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Price Target Raised to $162.00

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) had its price objective lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $160.00 to $162.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

LOPE has been the subject of several other reports. Barrington Research restated an outperform rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LOPE traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $143.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 104,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 190,449. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $143.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.66. Grand Canyon Education has a 1-year low of $108.24 and a 1-year high of $157.53.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.17. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 31.81%. The business had revenue of $227.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $223.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Grand Canyon Education will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Grand Canyon Education news, Director Lisa Graham Keegan sold 270 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.96, for a total transaction of $39,949.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $389,874.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LOPE. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 14,150.0% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 208.6% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 710.7% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

About Grand Canyon Education

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.