M&T Bank Corp Purchases 135,385 Shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. $LOPE

M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOPE) by 5,029.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,077 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 135,385 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp owned approximately 0.49% of Grand Canyon Education worth $22,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Crown Advisors Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Crown Advisors Management Inc. now owns 45,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,483,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Optas LLC bought a new position in Grand Canyon Education in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Novem Group acquired a new position in shares of Grand Canyon Education in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $816,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Grand Canyon Education by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,434,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the period. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LOPE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Grand Canyon Education in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Grand Canyon Education currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

Grand Canyon Education Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LOPE opened at $165.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.67. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.37 and a 52 week high of $223.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $165.88 and its 200-day moving average is $172.82.

Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ:LOPE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.19 by $0.02. Grand Canyon Education had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 33.28%. The business had revenue of $308.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $307.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. Grand Canyon Education’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. will post 10.1 EPS for the current year.

Grand Canyon Education Company Profile

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.