Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) Trading Down 9.8% – Should You Sell?

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN)’s share price fell 9.8% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $14.54 and last traded at $14.3610. 692,510 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 1,443,791 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GRPN. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Groupon in a report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Groupon from $17.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.67.

Groupon Stock Down 14.2%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $530.55 million, a P/E ratio of -6.44 and a beta of -0.04.

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

Institutional Trading of Groupon

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GRPN. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Groupon in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Groupon in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 855 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 629 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Groupon in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

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.