Grand Canyon Education's (LOPE) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Barrington Research

Barrington Research reissued their outperform rating on shares of Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE - Free Report) in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Barrington Research currently has a $165.00 price target on the stock.

LOPE has been the subject of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Grand Canyon Education from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

Shares of LOPE stock traded up $1.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $142.78. The company had a trading volume of 369,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 182,945. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $145.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.04. The company has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.69. Grand Canyon Education has a twelve month low of $112.38 and a twelve month high of $157.53.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.17. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 21.88% and a return on equity of 31.49%. The firm had revenue of $227.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $223.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Grand Canyon Education will post 7.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Grand Canyon Education news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.23, for a total transaction of $211,845.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 22,674 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,202,249.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grand Canyon Education

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $131,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the second quarter valued at $300,000. Aristides Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the second quarter valued at $206,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,261 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,275,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education during the 2nd quarter worth $109,000. 94.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.