Groupon Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:GRPN)

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 7,210 call options on the company. This is an increase of 23% compared to the typical volume of 5,870 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Groupon

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GRPN. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Groupon in the first quarter valued at $2,416,000. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd raised its position in shares of Groupon by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd now owns 102,118 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after buying an additional 19,860 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Groupon by 64.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 636,480 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $7,574,000 after acquiring an additional 248,928 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Groupon by 10.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,618 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Groupon in the 1st quarter worth about $440,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Groupon Trading Down 2.5%

NASDAQ:GRPN traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $22.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,661,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,621,020. Groupon has a 52-week low of $9.17 and a 52-week high of $43.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $847.03 million, a P/E ratio of -8.57 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $17.03 and a 200-day moving average of $15.05.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The coupon company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.30). Groupon had a negative net margin of 20.78% and a negative return on equity of 717.37%. The firm had revenue of $117.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.65 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Groupon will post -0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GRPN shares. Northland Securities set a $26.00 price target on shares of Groupon in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Groupon in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Groupon from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Groupon in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $13.00 price objective (up from $10.00) on shares of Groupon in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Groupon currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.50.

About Groupon

Groupon, Inc operates an online marketplace that connects subscribers with local merchants offering discounted goods, services and experiences. Through its website and mobile applications, Groupon provides time-limited deals across categories such as restaurants, travel, beauty and wellness, home services, and consumer products. Merchants partner with Groupon to attract new customers and drive foot traffic, leveraging the platform’s targeted marketing tools and large subscriber base to promote special offers and vouchers.

Founded in Chicago in 2008 by Andrew Mason, Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell, Groupon pioneered the daily-deals model, quickly growing its user community and merchant network.