Short Interest in Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) Rises By 11.7%

Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 156,500 shares, an increase of 11.7% from the December 15th total of 140,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 85,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HURN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barrington Research upped their target price on Huron Consulting Group from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Huron Consulting Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Huron Consulting Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Huron Consulting Group stock traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $127.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 41,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 72,645. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $123.42 and its 200 day moving average is $113.19. The company has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a PE ratio of 27.62 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Huron Consulting Group has a 52-week low of $84.26 and a 52-week high of $131.06.

Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $370.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.63 million. Huron Consulting Group had a return on equity of 21.51% and a net margin of 5.80%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.39 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Huron Consulting Group will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Huron Consulting Group

In related news, Director H Eugene Lockhart sold 1,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total transaction of $127,968.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,285,904.36. This trade represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James H. Roth sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.69, for a total value of $247,380.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,250,550.46. This represents a 3.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,584 shares of company stock valued at $1,062,597. 2.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huron Consulting Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HURN. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 181,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 62,909 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,197,000 after purchasing an additional 11,401 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 58,538 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,766,000 after purchasing an additional 7,643 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,947,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 152,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,064,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huron Consulting Group Company Profile

Huron Consulting Group Inc, a professional services firm, provides consultancy services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Healthcare, Education, and Commercial. The Healthcare segment provides financial and operational performance improvement consulting services; digital offerings, spanning technology and analytic-related services; software products; organizational transformation services; revenue cycle managed and outsourcing services; financial and capital advisory consulting services; and strategy and innovation consulting services to national and regional health systems, academic and community health systems, federal health system, public, children’s and critical access hospitals, physician practices and medical groups, payors, and long-term care or post-acute providers.