Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 159,200 shares, a decline of 8.2% from the October 31st total of 173,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 86,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Huron Consulting Group

In other news, Director H Eugene Lockhart sold 1,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.27, for a total value of $112,817.34. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 28,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,122,506.80. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James H. Roth sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.42, for a total transaction of $256,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,825 shares in the company, valued at $7,040,626.50. The trade was a 3.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,084 shares of company stock worth $490,342. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huron Consulting Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HURN. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Huron Consulting Group by 40.2% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 10,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,006,000 after buying an additional 2,927 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Huron Consulting Group during the 2nd quarter worth $584,000. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in Huron Consulting Group by 7.5% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,452 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Huron Consulting Group by 240.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 136,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,426,000 after purchasing an additional 96,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA raised its holdings in Huron Consulting Group by 5.6% in the second quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 222,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,929,000 after purchasing an additional 11,902 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Huron Consulting Group Price Performance

Shares of HURN stock opened at $123.58 on Wednesday. Huron Consulting Group has a twelve month low of $84.26 and a twelve month high of $131.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.87 and a beta of 0.60.

Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN) last released 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 company had revenue of $370.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.63 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Huron Consulting Group will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Huron Consulting Group

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.