Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $2.80 to $1.50 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, BenzingaRatingsTable reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the coupon company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential downside of 9.09% from the company’s previous close.
Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Ascendiant Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Groupon from $4.25 to $3.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They noted that the move was a valuation call. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Groupon from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $3.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Groupon from $3.50 to $2.90 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Credit Suisse Group dropped their price objective on shares of Groupon from $4.00 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Groupon from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $3.20 to $2.40 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.70.
GRPN stock opened at $1.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $963.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.67 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Groupon has a 12-month low of $1.57 and a 12-month high of $3.82. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.72.
Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The coupon company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $612.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $704.87 million. Groupon had a negative net margin of 1.01% and a positive return on equity of 3.39%. Groupon’s quarterly revenue was down 23.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. Research analysts expect that Groupon will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.
In other news, Director Eric P. Lefkofsky sold 750,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.82, for a total transaction of $2,115,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 15.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GRPN. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Groupon by 50.9% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 54,238 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 18,298 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new stake in shares of Groupon during the third quarter worth about $1,759,000. Graybill Bartz & Assoc Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Groupon during the third quarter worth about $63,000. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Groupon by 20.7% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,039,601 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $2,765,000 after acquiring an additional 178,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in shares of Groupon by 11.6% during the third quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 273,458 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $727,000 after acquiring an additional 28,459 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.69% of the company’s stock.
Groupon Company Profile
Groupon, Inc operates online local commerce marketplaces that connect merchants to consumers by offering goods and services at a discount in North America and internationally. The company provides deals in various categories, including events and activities, beauty and spa, health and fitness, food and drink, home and garden, and automotive; and deals on various product lines, such as electronics, sporting goods, jewelry, toys, household items, and apparel, as well as discounted and market rates for hotel, airfare, and package deals.
