Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Trims Stake in Groupon, Inc. $GRPN

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Groupon, Inc. by 43.8% in the first quarter, selling 137,235 shares and retaining a total of 175,973 shares worth $3,303,000.
• Increases in holdings were observed from several hedge funds, with Invesco Ltd. expanding its position by 351.8% to own 261,447 shares after purchasing an additional 203,585 shares.
• Groupon reported better-than-expected earnings, posting $0.46 EPS for the quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.48, despite a negative net margin of 1.89%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lowered its position in Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN - Free Report) by 43.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 175,973 shares of the coupon company's stock after selling 137,235 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.44% of Groupon worth $3,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Groupon by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 23,897 shares of the coupon company's stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 1,526 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Groupon by 2.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 74,808 shares of the coupon company's stock valued at $1,404,000 after buying an additional 1,720 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Groupon by 383.5% in the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,718 shares of the coupon company's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 2,949 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Groupon by 48,700.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,856 shares of the coupon company's stock worth $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Groupon by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 232,550 shares of the coupon company's stock worth $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 7,341 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.05% of the company's stock.

Groupon Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ GRPN traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,887,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,282,868. Groupon, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.75 and a fifty-two week high of $43.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.16, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $910.48 million, a P/E ratio of -93.83 and a beta of 0.68. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $28.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.72.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The coupon company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.48. Groupon had a negative return on equity of 19.61% and a negative net margin of 1.89%.The business had revenue of $125.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.46 million. Research analysts anticipate that Groupon, Inc. will post -0.31 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on GRPN shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Groupon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group started coverage on Groupon in a report on Thursday, August 7th. They set a "mixed" rating on the stock. Northland Securities lifted their price objective on Groupon from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Roth Capital lifted their target price on Groupon from $33.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.80.

About Groupon

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.