Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $14.95, but opened at $17.48. Groupon shares last traded at $17.2140, with a volume of 2,375,673 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on GRPN. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Groupon from $17.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Groupon in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.67.

Groupon Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $627.71 million, a PE ratio of -7.59 and a beta of -0.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.72.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The coupon company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $132.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $137.34 million. Groupon had a negative net margin of 16.76% and a negative return on equity of 717.37%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Groupon, Inc. will post 0.28 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Groupon

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GRPN. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Groupon during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Groupon during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Groupon by 85.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,858 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Groupon by 48.1% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,938 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Groupon in the third quarter valued at about $53,000. 90.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Groupon Company Profile

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.