Barrington Research Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Stock

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) had its price target lifted by investment analysts at Barrington Research from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Barrington Research’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 11.90% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on LOPE. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Grand Canyon Education from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

Shares of LOPE opened at $160.86 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.70. Grand Canyon Education has a 1 year low of $118.48 and a 1 year high of $161.65. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.20.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $238.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.69 million. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 31.49% and a net margin of 21.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Grand Canyon Education will post 7.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Grand Canyon Education

In other Grand Canyon Education news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,202,249.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grand Canyon Education

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LOPE. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Grand Canyon Education by 47.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 538,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,452,000 after acquiring an additional 173,800 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 78.5% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 308,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,977,000 after buying an additional 135,626 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 41.0% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 285,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,882,000 after buying an additional 82,855 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 89.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 173,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,215,000 after buying an additional 81,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 42.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 220,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,833,000 after buying an additional 65,518 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

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.