Skylands Capital LLC Cuts Stake in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE)

Skylands Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 24.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,092 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,135 shares during the period. Grand Canyon Education makes up 1.1% of Skylands Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Skylands Capital LLC owned about 0.16% of Grand Canyon Education worth $7,714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Grand Canyon Education by 12.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,323,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,725,000 after purchasing an additional 141,648 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 15.4% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 513,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,878,000 after buying an additional 68,579 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the third quarter worth about $4,942,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in Grand Canyon Education during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,833,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 14,085.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 21,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,980,000 after purchasing an additional 20,987 shares during the period. 94.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LOPE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Grand Canyon Education from $170.00 to $186.00 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 report on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Grand Canyon Education from $181.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barrington Research increased their price objective on Grand Canyon Education from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $249,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 21,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,516,366.18. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

LOPE opened at $181.70 on Monday. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a one year low of $126.17 and a one year high of $192.18. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.74.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.02. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 30.67% and a net margin of 21.90%. The company had revenue of $292.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.62 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 8.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Grand Canyon Education Company Profile

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.