Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN)

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 21,592 call options on the company. This is an increase of 164% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,182 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GRPN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Groupon from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Groupon in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Groupon from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Groupon has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GRPN. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Groupon during the third quarter worth approximately $442,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Groupon in the second quarter valued at $1,463,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Groupon during the third quarter valued at about $814,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position 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 worth $2,930,000 after acquiring an additional 138,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Groupon by 591.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 123,727 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $1,893,000 after acquiring an additional 105,832 shares during the last quarter. 90.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Groupon Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:GRPN traded up $0.19 on Wednesday, reaching $12.66. 385,329 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,311,151. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. Groupon has a 1-year low of $7.75 and a 1-year high of $19.56. The company’s 50 day moving average is $10.19 and its 200-day moving average is $12.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $503.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45 and a beta of 1.72.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The coupon company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25) by $0.58. The business had revenue of $114.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.02 million. Groupon had a net margin of 3.87% and a return on equity of 91.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.22) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Groupon will post -0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Groupon Company Profile

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.