Grand Canyon Education, Inc. $LOPE Stock: Skylands Capital LLC Raises Position

Skylands Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 66,715 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,150 shares during the quarter. Grand Canyon Education makes up about 1.3% of Skylands Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in Grand Canyon Education were worth $10,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LOPE. Leonteq Securities AG raised its position in Grand Canyon Education by 48.9% during the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Grand Canyon Education in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 525.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 225 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 343.5% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Grand Canyon Education in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $82,000. 94.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LOPE. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $185.00 to $182.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Barrington Research set a $200.00 price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.67.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Grand Canyon Education stock opened at $159.76 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a PE ratio of 19.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.58. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a twelve month low of $134.27 and a twelve month high of $223.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $152.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.68.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.14. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 36.62% and a net margin of 19.63%. The company had revenue of $264.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $261.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Grand Canyon Education’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

Grand Canyon Education Profile

Grand Canyon Education, Inc (NASDAQ: LOPE) is an education services company that provides technology, operational and support services to colleges and universities. Rather than operating primarily as a traditional university, the company partners with higher education institutions to help them deliver online, hybrid and campus-based academic programs.

Its services include learning technology, digital course development, data analytics, marketing, student enrollment and support, financial aid assistance, faculty support, and other administrative functions.