J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Decreases Position in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lowered its position in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE - Free Report) by 28.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,556 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,239 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Grand Canyon Education were worth $910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LOPE. Barclays PLC raised its position in Grand Canyon Education by 0.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 18,977 shares of the company's stock worth $2,692,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the company's stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Grand Canyon Education in the 3rd quarter valued at about $86,000. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,393 shares of the company's stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,523 shares of the company's stock worth $5,014,000 after buying an additional 3,630 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LOPE shares. StockNews.com downgraded Grand Canyon Education from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $181.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LOPE traded up $1.48 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $177.40. The company had a trading volume of 17,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 178,835. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.86 and a twelve month high of $192.18. The stock has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.82. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $173.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.48.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.02. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 30.67%. The company had revenue of $292.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.62 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 8.81 EPS for the current year.

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.