Short Interest in Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) Rises By 9.7%

Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 259,500 shares, a growth of 9.7% from the August 15th total of 236,600 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 141,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Huron Consulting Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HURN traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $106.90. 89,267 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 132,600. The company has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a PE ratio of 30.94 and a beta of 0.61. Huron Consulting Group has a 52-week low of $84.26 and a 52-week high of $115.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.93. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.11.

Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $371.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.33 million. Huron Consulting Group had a return on equity of 20.44% and a net margin of 5.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Huron Consulting Group will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on HURN. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Huron Consulting Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 3rd. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $137.00 target price on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a research note on Monday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Huron Consulting Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director H Eugene Lockhart sold 1,042 shares of Huron Consulting Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.48, for a total transaction of $114,078.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,271,481.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Huron Consulting Group news, insider Kyle Featherstone sold 820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.07, for a total transaction of $88,617.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,129.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director H Eugene Lockhart sold 1,042 shares of Huron Consulting Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.48, for a total transaction of $114,078.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,882 shares in the company, valued at $3,271,481.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 44,439 shares of company stock worth $4,512,214 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Huron Consulting Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HURN. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Huron Consulting Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Huron Consulting Group by 26,500.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 266 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Huron Consulting Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Huron Consulting Group in the 4th quarter worth $97,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Huron Consulting Group by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.