Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN - 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 280,400 shares, an increase of 22.8% from the March 15th total of 228,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 118,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company's shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James H. Roth sold 9,517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.28, for a total transaction of $944,847.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 83,239 shares in the company, valued at $8,263,967.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Huron Consulting Group news, Director James H. Roth sold 2,000 shares of Huron Consulting Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.22, for a total transaction of $206,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,040 shares in the company, valued at $7,023,088.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James H. Roth sold 9,517 shares of Huron Consulting Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.28, for a total transaction of $944,847.76. Following the sale, the director now owns 83,239 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,263,967.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,080 shares of company stock worth $4,146,076. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 12,011 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 2,246 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 39.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,555 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Huron Consulting Group by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 128,096 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $13,168,000 after purchasing an additional 27,307 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Huron Consulting Group by 343.3% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 31,987 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,289,000 after purchasing an additional 24,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Huron Consulting Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,855,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HURN has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Huron Consulting Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barrington Research upped their price target on shares of Huron Consulting Group from $128.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th.

Huron Consulting Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HURN traded down $1.24 on Monday, reaching $91.15. 122,851 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 116,903. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Huron Consulting Group has a 1-year low of $70.66 and a 1-year high of $113.31. The firm has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $98.70 and a 200-day moving average of $101.42.

Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The business services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.17. Huron Consulting Group had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 17.77%. The business had revenue of $339.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $341.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Huron Consulting Group will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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