Huron Consulting Group Inc. $HURN Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its stake in Huron Consulting Group by 51.8% in the fourth quarter, making it one of the largest recent institutional buyers. Hedge funds and other institutions now own 93.9% of the company.
• Huron posted better-than-expected first-quarter results, reporting EPS of $1.73 versus the $1.58 consensus and revenue of $451.77 million versus $437.12 million expected. Revenue rose 12.1% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $205.50, though Weiss Ratings recently downgraded the stock to Hold. The shares were also trading up 3.9% on Friday.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN - Free Report) by 51.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 476,863 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 162,706 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 2.77% of Huron Consulting Group worth $82,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 271.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 422,719 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $73,092,000 after purchasing an additional 308,770 shares during the period. SG Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 131.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 250,489 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $36,764,000 after purchasing an additional 142,448 shares during the last quarter. BloombergSen Inc. boosted its stake in Huron Consulting Group by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. BloombergSen Inc. now owns 365,167 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $53,596,000 after purchasing an additional 131,365 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its position in Huron Consulting Group by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 888,045 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $130,803,000 after acquiring an additional 129,073 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new stake in shares of Huron Consulting Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,633,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Huron Consulting Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Huron Consulting Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.50.

Huron Consulting Group Trading Up 3.9%

NASDAQ:HURN opened at $124.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.29 and a beta of 0.15. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $130.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 2.22. Huron Consulting Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.45 and a 52 week high of $186.77.

Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $451.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $437.12 million. Huron Consulting Group had a net margin of 5.94% and a return on equity of 29.41%. The company's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. Huron Consulting Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.350-9.150 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Huron Consulting Group Inc. will post 8.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John Mccartney sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.68, for a total value of $63,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 40,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,211,514.56. This represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 796 shares of company stock valued at $101,411. 2.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Huron Consulting Group Company Profile

Huron Consulting Group NASDAQ: HURN is a global professional services firm that advises organizations across a range of industries on strategy, operations and technology. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Chicago, the company helps clients address complex business challenges such as performance improvement, digital transformation and organizational change. Huron's consultants work alongside executive leadership teams to develop and implement tailored solutions that drive growth, increase efficiency and manage risk.

Huron's service offerings encompass business and financial advisory, healthcare performance improvement, life sciences consulting, higher education and research lifecycle support, as well as legal and regulatory consulting.

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