Short Interest in Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) Decreases By 5.8%

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,780,000 shares, a decline of 5.8% from the August 15th total of 7,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,190,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.7 days. Approximately 32.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GRPN. Wolf Hill Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Groupon during the first quarter valued at $17,897,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Groupon during the second quarter valued at $10,884,000. Pale Fire Capital SE lifted its holdings in shares of Groupon by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 7,040,410 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $90,399,000 after purchasing an additional 323,344 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Groupon by 259.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Groupon by 591.4% during the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 123,727 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $1,893,000 after purchasing an additional 105,832 shares in the last quarter. 90.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Groupon Trading Down 5.0 %

Groupon stock opened at $11.78 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.95. Groupon has a 12 month low of $8.08 and a 12 month high of $19.56. The company has a market capitalization of $465.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.13 and a beta of 1.80.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The coupon company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.25) by $0.10. The company had revenue of $124.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.70 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.30) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Groupon will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GRPN. Roth Mkm reduced their price target on Groupon from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Northland Capmk raised Groupon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.