Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) Now Covered by StockNews.com

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE – Get Rating) in a note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the stock.

LOPE has been the topic of several other research reports. Barrington Research upped their target price on Grand Canyon Education from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Grand Canyon Education from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st.

Grand Canyon Education Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Grand Canyon Education stock traded down $1.08 during trading on Thursday, reaching $109.14. The stock had a trading volume of 401,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 197,877. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $113.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.95. Grand Canyon Education has a 52 week low of $78.37 and a 52 week high of $121.60.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The company reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.11. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 30.24% and a net margin of 20.26%. The business had revenue of $258.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.11 earnings per share. Grand Canyon Education’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education will post 6.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grand Canyon Education

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Grand Canyon Education by 1.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,374,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,650,000 after buying an additional 43,876 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,975,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,729,000 after purchasing an additional 23,522 shares during the last quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 0.5% in the third quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 2,115,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,967,000 after purchasing an additional 9,672 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 3.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,090,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,881,000 after purchasing an additional 41,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 695,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,537,000 after purchasing an additional 21,813 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.81% of the company’s stock.

About Grand Canyon Education

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Grand Canyon Education, Inc engages in the provision of education services. It offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs and certificates across colleges. The company was founded by Christopher C. Richardson and Brent D. Richardson in November 2003 and is headquartered in Phoenix, AZ.