Analysts Set Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) Target Price at $208.67

Shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $208.6667.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research cut shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of 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.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:LOPE opened at $207.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $204.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.43. Grand Canyon Education has a fifty-two week low of $130.69 and a fifty-two week high of $220.79.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $247.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.90 million. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 31.50%. Grand Canyon Education’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Grand Canyon Education will post 8.81 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Grand Canyon Education

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education during the second quarter worth $65,736,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 57.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 560,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,853,000 after buying an additional 204,582 shares during the period. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new stake in Grand Canyon Education during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,910,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 79.7% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 386,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,828,000 after buying an additional 171,261 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Grand Canyon Education during the 1st quarter worth about $20,906,000. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.