Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) Trading Up 6.5% – Time to Buy?

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) shares shot up 6.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $27.83 and last traded at $27.7560. 631,609 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 1,636,078 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Groupon in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Groupon from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Northland Securities set a $26.00 target price on shares of Groupon in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Groupon in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $13.00 price target (up from $10.00) on shares of Groupon in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.50.

Groupon Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.69 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $20.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.16.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The coupon company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $117.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.65 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Groupon, Inc. will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Groupon

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 383,277 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Groupon by 552.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,136,524 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $38,017,000 after buying an additional 962,337 shares during the period. Garnet Equity Capital Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Groupon by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Garnet Equity Capital Holdings Inc. now owns 958,660 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $16,882,000 after buying an additional 40,000 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Groupon by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 881,422 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $15,522,000 after acquiring an additional 180,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Groupon by 749.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 791,498 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $13,938,000 after acquiring an additional 698,270 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

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.