Bank of America Corp DE Trims Stock Position in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE)

Bank of America Corp DE cut its stake in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 178,888 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,881 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.61% of Grand Canyon Education worth $29,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LOPE. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education during the fourth quarter worth approximately $57,838,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Grand Canyon Education during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,066,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,513,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,870,000 after buying an additional 189,843 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Grand Canyon Education by 68.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 392,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,786,000 after buying an additional 159,827 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Grand Canyon Education during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,262,000. 94.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of LOPE opened at $197.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.80. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.69 and a twelve month high of $202.28. The company has a 50 day moving average of $177.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.68.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $289.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $287.18 million. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 30.67%. Grand Canyon Education’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.35 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 8.81 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research lifted their price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Grand Canyon Education from $181.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Grand Canyon Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

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.