Vestcor Inc Buys 1,919 Shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE)

Vestcor Inc lifted its stake in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 31.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,037 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,919 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Grand Canyon Education were worth $1,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 19,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,267,000 after buying an additional 1,753 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 87.2% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 9,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,598,000 after acquiring an additional 4,544 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 167,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,388,000 after acquiring an additional 9,083 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL purchased a new position in Grand Canyon Education during the 4th quarter valued at $364,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the 4th quarter worth about $57,838,000. Institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LOPE opened at $170.15 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.46. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.69 and a fifty-two week high of $202.28. The company has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.79.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.06. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 30.94% and a net margin of 21.94%. The company had revenue of $289.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $287.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.35 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 8.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LOPE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Grand Canyon Education from $222.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd.

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.