The company that owns the all-online Capella University made its debut on Wall Street today with an initial public offering of its stock at a price of $20 per share. Proceeds of the $80-million deal will go to investors and founders of the Capella Education Company, based in Minneapolis.
The price per share at the opening was higher than the company had expected, indicating that in the past two weeks institutional investors who were being courted to buy the stock became willing to pay more than $17.50 to $19.50 per share. In its first day on the Nasdaq, the stock traded for as much as $26.20 per share. The stock, which trades under the symbol CPLA, closed at $25.11 per share.
