Ieq Capital LLC Grows Stake in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE)

Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,377 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 282 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Grand Canyon Education were worth $553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 12.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,323,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,725,000 after buying an additional 141,648 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 513,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,878,000 after purchasing an additional 68,579 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the 3rd quarter worth $4,942,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the third quarter worth $4,833,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Grand Canyon Education news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 21,174 shares in the company, valued at $3,516,366.18. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

NASDAQ:LOPE opened at $179.39 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.74. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a 1 year low of $126.17 and a 1 year high of $192.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.43.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $292.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.62 million. As a group, analysts expect that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 8.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.