Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) Shares Acquired by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 23.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,163 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Grand Canyon Education were worth $190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 141,648 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 513,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,878,000 after purchasing an additional 68,579 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 19.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 263,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,361,000 after buying an additional 43,005 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Grand Canyon Education in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,942,000. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,833,000. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Up 1.2 %

LOPE opened at $179.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.54, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $166.75 and a 200-day moving average of $152.67. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a 12-month low of $118.48 and a 12-month high of $180.98.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.01. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 31.01% and a net margin of 22.09%. The firm had revenue of $238.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on LOPE. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Grand Canyon Education from $152.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com cut Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $170.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Activity

In other Grand Canyon Education news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.07, for a total value of $249,105.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 21,174 shares in the company, valued at $3,516,366.18. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Grand Canyon Education

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.