Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) Short Interest Down 15.0% in December

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 266,000 shares, a drop of 15.0% from the December 15th total of 312,800 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 175,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Grand Canyon Education Price Performance

Shares of Grand Canyon Education stock traded up $2.11 on Thursday, reaching $171.00. 107,437 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 124,514. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $164.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.08. Grand Canyon Education has a 1-year low of $118.48 and a 1-year high of $173.37. The company has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.75.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.01. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 22.09% and a return on equity of 31.01%. The company had revenue of $238.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Grand Canyon Education will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 21,174 shares in the company, valued at $3,516,366.18. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Grand Canyon Education

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LOPE. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $692,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Grand Canyon Education by 1.5% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance lifted its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 2,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 5,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $814,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.