Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) Stake Reduced by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,125 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Grand Canyon Education were worth $348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LOPE. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Grand Canyon Education by 2.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Grand Canyon Education by 22.0% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 944 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Grand Canyon Education by 4.4% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Grand Canyon Education in the third quarter worth about $1,440,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Grand Canyon Education by 4.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 423,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,092,000 after acquiring an additional 19,577 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LOPE. Barrington Research lifted their price target on Grand Canyon Education from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised Grand Canyon Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Grand Canyon Education from $181.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

NASDAQ:LOPE opened at $167.25 on Wednesday. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.17 and a fifty-two week high of $192.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $174.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.57. The stock has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.78.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last released 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 return on equity of 30.67% and a net margin of 21.90%. The company had revenue of $292.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $289.62 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 8.81 earnings per share for the current year.

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.