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

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 332,183 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 18,827 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.85% of Huron Consulting Group worth $47,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of HURN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 205,376 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,520,000 after purchasing an additional 3,783 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 4,120 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of Huron Consulting Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $407,000. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Huron Consulting Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Huron Consulting Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,301,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Huron Consulting Group Price Performance

Shares of HURN stock traded down $2.71 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $135.16. 173,675 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 155,324. The company has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26 and a beta of 0.28. Huron Consulting Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.45 and a 12-month high of $155.00. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $142.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joy Brown sold 668 shares of Huron Consulting Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.74, for a total value of $100,026.32. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,332,087.04. The trade was a 6.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.74, for a total transaction of $142,209.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,116,071.88. The trade was a 11.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,708 shares of company stock valued at $377,421 over the last three months. 2.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Huron Consulting Group

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.