Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,224 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,317 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Grand Canyon Education worth $10,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LOPE. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 2.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $670,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Grand Canyon Education by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Grand Canyon Education in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education during the third quarter worth about $2,622,000. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR acquired a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education during the third quarter worth about $346,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LOPE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $170.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barrington Research raised their price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price 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 upgraded Grand Canyon Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Activity

In other Grand Canyon Education news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of Grand Canyon Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.07, for a total transaction of $249,105.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 21,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,516,366.18. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Grand Canyon Education Trading Up 0.9 %

LOPE stock opened at $179.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.74. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a twelve month low of $126.17 and a twelve month high of $192.18. The company’s 50 day moving average is $172.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.85.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $292.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.62 million. On average, equities research analysts predict 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.