Short Interest in Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) Rises By 11.7%

Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 156,500 shares, an increase of 11.7% from the December 15th total of 140,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 85,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HURN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Huron Consulting Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barrington Research boosted their price target on shares of Huron Consulting Group from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Huron Consulting Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huron Consulting Group

In related news, Director H Eugene Lockhart sold 1,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.82, for a total value of $120,684.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,219,564.36. The trade was a 3.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James H. Roth sold 2,000 shares of Huron Consulting Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.70, for a total value of $247,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 52,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,534,452.50. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,584 shares of company stock valued at $1,062,597. 2.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Huron Consulting Group

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

Huron Consulting Group Price Performance

HURN opened at $127.03 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62 and a beta of 0.60. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $123.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.19. Huron Consulting Group has a 52-week low of $84.26 and a 52-week high of $131.06.

Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.11. Huron Consulting Group had a return on equity of 21.51% and a net margin of 5.80%. The company had revenue of $370.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. Huron Consulting Group’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Huron Consulting Group will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

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.