Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Stock Price Down 5.6% – Should You Sell?

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE)’s stock price fell 5.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $157.51 and last traded at $158.4550. 73,389 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 283,955 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on LOPE shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Grand Canyon Education currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $169.52 and its 200-day moving average is $184.39. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.74.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $308.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $307.92 million. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 33.28% and a net margin of 19.54%.Grand Canyon Education’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 8.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grand Canyon Education

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LOPE. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Grand Canyon Education in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Grand Canyon Education in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Toronto Dominion Bank purchased a new stake in Grand Canyon Education during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 70.7% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

About Grand Canyon Education

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.