Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Downgraded by StockNews.com

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Friday, September 20th.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

Grand Canyon Education stock opened at $135.74 on Wednesday. Grand Canyon Education has a 52-week low of $112.38 and a 52-week high of $157.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $142.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $140.81. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.69.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $227.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $223.56 million. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 21.88% and a return on equity of 31.49%. Grand Canyon Education’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Grand Canyon Education will post 7.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Grand Canyon Education

In other Grand Canyon Education news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.23, for a total transaction of $211,845.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 22,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,202,249.02. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Grand Canyon Education

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Grand Canyon Education during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,961,000. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the 1st quarter worth $2,180,000. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 463,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,077,000 after acquiring an additional 39,743 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 66,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,865,000 after acquiring an additional 4,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 450.7% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,459,000 after acquiring an additional 14,386 shares in the last quarter. 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.