Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN - Free Report) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 332,183 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 18,827 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.85% of Huron Consulting Group worth $47,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HURN. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Huron Consulting Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $203,000. KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in Huron Consulting Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $128,000. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huron Consulting Group in the first quarter valued at about $4,626,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 58.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 92,872 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,540,000 after purchasing an additional 34,353 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in shares of Huron Consulting Group in the first quarter valued at about $986,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huron Consulting Group Stock Performance

HURN stock traded up $1.25 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $137.87. 161,440 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 155,250. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $142.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 0.28. Huron Consulting Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.45 and a 1 year high of $155.00.

Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $404.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $389.27 million. Huron Consulting Group had a return on equity of 24.68% and a net margin of 7.88%. The business's revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Huron Consulting Group Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joy Brown sold 668 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.74, for a total value of $100,026.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,896 shares in the company, valued at $1,332,087.04. The trade was a 6.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director H Eugene Lockhart sold 1,040 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.74, for a total value of $142,209.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,116,071.88. This trade represents a 11.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,708 shares of company stock worth $377,421 over the last three months. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HURN. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered Huron Consulting Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barrington Research increased their price objective on Huron Consulting Group from $167.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on Huron Consulting Group from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Huron Consulting Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $170.75.

Huron Consulting Group Profile

Huron Consulting Group Inc, a professional services firm, provides consultancy services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Healthcare, Education, and Commercial. The Healthcare segment provides financial and operational performance improvement consulting services; digital offerings, spanning technology and analytic-related services; software products; organizational transformation services; revenue cycle managed and outsourcing services; financial and capital advisory consulting services; and strategy and innovation consulting services to national and regional health systems, academic and community health systems, federal health system, public, children's and critical access hospitals, physician practices and medical groups, payors, and long-term care or post-acute providers.