Grand Canyon Education, Inc. $LOPE Stake Cut by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 30.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 215,102 shares of the company’s stock after selling 95,600 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Grand Canyon Education were worth $36,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aristides Capital LLC increased its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 21.8% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 36,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,172,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 107.3% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 39.8% during the first quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 10,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,821,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 6.3% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LOPE. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Grand Canyon Education from $198.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 6th. Truist Financial set a $100.00 target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Grand Canyon Education presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.67.

Grand Canyon Education Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of Grand Canyon Education stock opened at $144.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.73. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a 1-year low of $134.27 and a 1-year high of $223.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.57.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $308.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.57 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current 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.