Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Stock Holdings in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 19.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 263,381 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 43,005 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.89% of Grand Canyon Education worth $37,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LOPE. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Grand Canyon Education in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,961,000. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the first quarter valued at $2,180,000. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 463,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,077,000 after buying an additional 39,743 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 66,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,865,000 after buying an additional 4,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 450.7% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,459,000 after buying an additional 14,386 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Grand Canyon Education

In related news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.23, for a total value of $211,845.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 22,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,202,249.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Grand Canyon Education Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of LOPE stock opened at $133.42 on Friday. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.12 and a twelve month high of $157.53. The company has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $139.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.68.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $227.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $223.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 7.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on LOPE. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. 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 research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Friday, September 20th.

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.