Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) Short Interest Update

Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 156,500 shares, a growth of 11.7% from the December 15th total of 140,100 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 85,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on HURN shares. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barrington Research lifted their price target on shares of Huron Consulting Group from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Huron Consulting Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Huron Consulting Group Stock Performance

Huron Consulting Group stock traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $127.03. 41,336 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 72,645. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a PE ratio of 27.62 and a beta of 0.60. Huron Consulting Group has a fifty-two week low of $84.26 and a fifty-two week high of $131.06.

Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.11. Huron Consulting Group had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 21.51%. The business had revenue of $370.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Huron Consulting Group will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John Mccartney sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.65, for a total value of $62,325.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 56,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,066,159.20. This represents a 0.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director H Eugene Lockhart sold 1,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.82, for a total value of $120,684.44. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,798 shares in the company, valued at $3,219,564.36. The trade was a 3.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,584 shares of company stock valued at $1,062,597. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huron Consulting Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Huron Consulting Group by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,373 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new position in Huron Consulting Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $220,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Huron Consulting Group during the 3rd quarter worth $220,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Huron Consulting Group during the 3rd quarter worth $264,000. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 2,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Huron Consulting Group Company Profile

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.