Wasatch Advisors LP Decreases Stock Holdings in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. $LOPE

Wasatch Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 34.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 316,202 shares of the company’s stock after selling 166,982 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP owned about 1.17% of Grand Canyon Education worth $53,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOPE. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 6,102.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 480,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,905,000 after buying an additional 472,714 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,919,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 281.9% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 453,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,362,000 after buying an additional 334,486 shares during the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 135.3% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 518,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,303,000 after acquiring an additional 298,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 523.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 194,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,370,000 after acquiring an additional 163,397 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LOPE shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Truist Financial set a $100.00 price target on Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Grand Canyon Education from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.00.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Up 1.6%

LOPE opened at $145.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $156.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.48. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.02 and a 52-week high of $223.04.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $308.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $307.75 million. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 34.72%. Grand Canyon Education’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.57 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Grand Canyon Education Profile

Grand Canyon Education, Inc provides a suite of higher‐education services through a long-term agreement with Grand Canyon University (GCU), one of the nation’s largest private Christian universities. The company’s offerings encompass a full range of academic and operational support functions, including enrollment management, student recruitment, curriculum development, instructional delivery, and technology infrastructure. Through its online program management capabilities, Grand Canyon Education helps design, market and deliver undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs to meet the needs of both traditional and non‐traditional learners.

Core services include digital marketing, admissions support, student success coaching, learning management systems and faculty recruitment.