Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) Shares Up 8.6% – Time to Buy?

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN)’s stock price shot up 8.6% during trading 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 Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on GRPN. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Groupon in a research report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Groupon from $17.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Groupon currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.67.

Groupon Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $602.18 million, a PE ratio of -7.32 and a beta of -0.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $11.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.93.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.02). Groupon had a negative return on equity of 717.37% and a negative net margin of 16.76%.The business had revenue of $132.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $137.34 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Groupon, Inc. will post -0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Groupon

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Groupon by 22.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,108,578 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $49,235,000 after acquiring an additional 383,277 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Groupon by 552.5% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,136,524 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $38,017,000 after acquiring an additional 962,337 shares during the last quarter. Tyro Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Groupon by 6.8% during the third quarter. Tyro Capital Management LLC now owns 1,091,095 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $25,477,000 after acquiring an additional 69,378 shares during the last quarter. Garnet Equity Capital Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Groupon by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Garnet Equity Capital Holdings Inc. now owns 958,660 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $16,882,000 after purchasing an additional 40,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in Groupon by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 881,422 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $15,522,000 after purchasing an additional 180,992 shares in the last quarter. 90.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.