Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,140,000 shares, an increase of 23.6% from the March 15th total of 3,350,000 shares. Currently, 19.8% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,190,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GRPN shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Groupon from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Groupon from $5.00 to $7.50 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Groupon currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.88.

Groupon Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of GRPN traded down $0.37 during trading on Monday, reaching $10.00. 1,418,245 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,171,850. Groupon has a twelve month low of $2.89 and a twelve month high of $19.56. The stock has a market cap of $389.70 million, a PE ratio of -5.24 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.40.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 15th. The coupon company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.51. The company had revenue of $137.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $136.47 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Groupon will post -0.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Groupon by 158.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 513,075 shares of the coupon company's stock valued at $7,860,000 after purchasing an additional 314,812 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Groupon by 2.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,122,050 shares of the coupon company's stock valued at $17,190,000 after purchasing an additional 26,661 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Groupon by 186.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 168,999 shares of the coupon company's stock valued at $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 110,003 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in Groupon by 2,630.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 14,881 shares of the coupon company's stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 14,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Groupon by 57.9% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 39,368 shares of the coupon company's stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 14,441 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.05% of the company's stock.

Groupon Company Profile

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.

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