Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Reduces Holdings in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lowered its position in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 286,114 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,651 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 0.98% of Grand Canyon Education worth $40,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 850,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,971,000 after buying an additional 11,179 shares during the period. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 1.5% in the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 756,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,908,000 after acquiring an additional 11,540 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 1.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 716,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,197,000 after purchasing an additional 12,509 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 47.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 538,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,452,000 after purchasing an additional 173,800 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 423,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,092,000 after purchasing an additional 19,577 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LOPE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Grand Canyon Education from $170.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barrington Research upped their target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $152.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th.

Grand Canyon Education Trading Up 0.9 %

LOPE stock opened at $167.88 on Tuesday. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a 1-year low of $118.48 and a 1-year high of $173.37. The stock has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $145.18 and its 200 day moving average is $144.06.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $238.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.69 million. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 22.09% and a return on equity of 31.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the 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 sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 22,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,202,249.02. This represents a 6.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Grand Canyon Education 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.