Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Position in Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE - Free Report) by 40.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,513 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,433 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.08% of Grand Canyon Education worth $3,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Alliance boosted its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 2,428 shares of the company's stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 856 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 4,229 shares of the company's stock valued at $592,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD boosted its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD now owns 2,656 shares of the company's stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,723 shares of the company's stock valued at $670,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LOPE shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Grand Canyon Education from $170.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded Grand Canyon Education from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Grand Canyon Education from $152.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barrington Research raised their price target on Grand Canyon Education from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

LOPE stock traded up $8.98 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $172.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 504,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 162,311. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.75. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.48 and a 1 year high of $172.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.70.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.01. Grand Canyon Education had a return on equity of 31.20% and a net margin of 22.09%. The business had revenue of $238.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 7.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Grand Canyon Education news, CTO Dilek Marsh sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.23, for a total value of $211,845.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 22,674 shares in the company, valued at $3,202,249.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Grand Canyon Education 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.