Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. $LOPE

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 578,110 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 26,593 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Grand Canyon Education were worth $96,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LOPE. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 613,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,010,000 after buying an additional 90,070 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 597,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,940,000 after purchasing an additional 20,485 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 281.9% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 453,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,362,000 after purchasing an additional 334,486 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 326,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,653,000 after acquiring an additional 40,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 283,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,280,000 after acquiring an additional 124,769 shares during the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Grand Canyon Education Trading Up 1.2%

LOPE opened at $152.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.56. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.00 and a 12 month high of $223.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $163.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.77.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $308.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $307.75 million. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 34.72% and a net margin of 19.54%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.57 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LOPE. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.00.

About Grand Canyon Education

Grand Canyon Education, Inc provides a suite of higher‐education services through a long-term agreement with Grand Canyon University (GCU), one of the nation’s largest private Christian universities. The company’s offerings encompass a full range of academic and operational support functions, including enrollment management, student recruitment, curriculum development, instructional delivery, and technology infrastructure. Through its online program management capabilities, Grand Canyon Education helps design, market and deliver undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs to meet the needs of both traditional and non‐traditional learners.

Core services include digital marketing, admissions support, student success coaching, learning management systems and faculty recruitment.