Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Stake in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. $LOPE

Royal Bank of Canada cut its stake in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 31.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 47,727 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,875 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Grand Canyon Education were worth $8,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 70.7% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank purchased a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG boosted its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 48.9% in 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 during the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LOPE shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Grand Canyon Education from $198.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Barrington Research set a $200.00 price objective on Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen cut Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $100.00 price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.67.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LOPE opened at $146.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.57. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a one year low of $134.27 and a one year high of $223.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.91.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $264.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $261.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. Grand Canyon Education’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 10.24 EPS for the current fiscal 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.