Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) Short Interest Update

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,150,000 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the August 31st total of 6,780,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,270,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.6 days. Approximately 34.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Groupon news, Director Jason Harinstein purchased 15,000 shares of Groupon stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.61 per share, for a total transaction of $159,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 55,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $590,531.38. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Jason Harinstein bought 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.61 per share, with a total value of $159,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 55,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $590,531.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert J. Bass sold 4,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.35, for a total value of $52,017.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 104,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,188,696.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 35.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Groupon

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pale Fire Capital SE raised its position in Groupon by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 7,040,410 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $90,399,000 after buying an additional 323,344 shares during the last quarter. Wolf Hill Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Groupon during the first quarter worth $17,897,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Groupon during the second quarter valued at $10,884,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Groupon by 259.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 191,514 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $2,930,000 after purchasing an additional 138,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its position in Groupon by 591.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 123,727 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $1,893,000 after purchasing an additional 105,832 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Groupon Trading Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ:GRPN opened at $9.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $374.45 million, a P/E ratio of -7.34 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62. Groupon has a 12 month low of $8.08 and a 12 month high of $19.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.44.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The coupon company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $124.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.30) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Groupon will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm lowered their target price on shares of Groupon from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Northland Securities dropped their target price on Groupon from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Northland Capmk upgraded Groupon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.83.

About Groupon

Groupon, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a marketplace that connects consumers to merchants. It operates in two segments, North America and International. The company sells goods or services on behalf of third-party merchants. It serves customers through its mobile applications and websites.