Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) Stock Price Up 8.6% – Here’s What Happened

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) shares shot up 8.6% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $13.60 and last traded at $13.6750. 551,670 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 1,228,598 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on GRPN. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Groupon from $17.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Groupon in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Groupon presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.67.

Groupon Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $543.88 million, a PE ratio of -6.30 and a beta of -0.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $11.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.95.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The coupon company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $132.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $137.34 million. Groupon had a negative net margin of 16.76% and a negative return on equity of 717.37%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Groupon, Inc. will post -0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Groupon

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Groupon during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $224,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Groupon by 31.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 44,606 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $837,000 after buying an additional 10,588 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Groupon by 1,098.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 26,658 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 24,433 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Groupon by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 36,632 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $1,225,000 after acquiring an additional 3,219 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Groupon by 47.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 47,073 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 15,177 shares during the period. 90.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Groupon

Groupon, Inc operates an online marketplace that connects subscribers with local merchants offering discounted goods, services and experiences. Through its website and mobile applications, Groupon provides time-limited deals across categories such as restaurants, travel, beauty and wellness, home services, and consumer products. Merchants partner with Groupon to attract new customers and drive foot traffic, leveraging the platform’s targeted marketing tools and large subscriber base to promote special offers and vouchers.

Founded in Chicago in 2008 by Andrew Mason, Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell, Groupon pioneered the daily-deals model, quickly growing its user community and merchant network.