Groupon Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:GRPN)

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 21,592 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 164% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,182 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Groupon

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GRPN. FMR LLC boosted its position in Groupon by 112.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,456 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Groupon by 129.1% in the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 13,340 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 7,516 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Groupon during the third quarter worth $145,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Groupon in the 3rd quarter worth about $174,000. Finally, Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Groupon in the third quarter valued at approximately $195,000. 90.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GRPN shares. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Groupon in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Groupon from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Northland Securities reduced their target price on shares of Groupon from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Groupon currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.00.

Groupon Price Performance

NASDAQ GRPN opened at $11.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $471.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24 and a beta of 1.72. Groupon has a 52-week low of $7.75 and a 52-week high of $19.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.56.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The coupon company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25) by $0.58. The business had revenue of $114.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.02 million. Groupon had a return on equity of 91.94% and a net margin of 3.87%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.22) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Groupon will post -0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Groupon Company Profile

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.