Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.02, Zacks reports. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 30.91%. The firm had revenue of $292.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.62 million.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

Shares of Grand Canyon Education stock traded down $1.27 on Friday, reaching $186.01. 47,308 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 147,035. Grand Canyon Education has a 52 week low of $126.17 and a 52 week high of $192.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $170.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.40. The company has a market capitalization of $5.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Grand Canyon Education 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 transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 21,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,516,366.18. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LOPE has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Grand Canyon Education from $170.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barrington Research increased their target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday.

About Grand Canyon Education

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.