Atom Investors LP Increases Stock Position in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. $LOPE

Atom Investors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 182.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,451 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,100 shares during the quarter. Atom Investors LP owned about 0.09% of Grand Canyon Education worth $4,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 6,102.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 480,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,905,000 after purchasing an additional 472,714 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Grand Canyon Education in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,919,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 334,486 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 135.3% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 518,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,303,000 after purchasing an additional 298,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 523.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 194,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,370,000 after purchasing an additional 163,397 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

Grand Canyon Education stock opened at $144.39 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $160.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.56. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.55 and a fifty-two week high of $223.04.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $308.76 million for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on LOPE shares. Truist Financial set a $100.00 target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.00.

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.