Groupon CTO Sri Vishwanath sold 10,923 shares in an open market transaction on Tuesday. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.19, for a total value of $78,536.37. Following the sale, the CTO owns 78,765 shares or 0.01% of Groupon’s total market capitalization.
Another recent insider transaction
Separately, Viswanath offloaded 5,461 shares in an open market transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The CTO sold the stock at an average price of $7.11 for a total transaction value of $38,827.71, according to a recent filing with the SEC.
Various analysts have produced an opinion on Groupon in recent weeks. The Vetr analysts upgraded the stock from a Hold to a Buy rating, and assigned a price target of $8.71 in a research note on March 30th. Wunderlich analysts revised their rating on the stock from Hold to Buy, and increased the price target from $6.00 to $10.00 in a research note to investors on March 25th. The Street analysts have assigned a Sell rating on the stock, a downgrade from Hold, in a research note to investors on March 18th. Groupon currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $9.03.
Hedge fund ownership of Groupon
According to fourth-quarter 2014 13F SEC filings, 197 hedge funds own shares of Groupon. Institutional ownership in Groupon totaled to 64.99% of the stock’s outstanding shares, says a report from Octafinance.
By the end of that quarter, these professional stock owners owned 438.95 million shares. A total of 31 funds closed their positions in Groupon, and 64 reduced their holdings. A total of 54 funds initiated position in the stock, while 55 funds increased their holdings. According to SEC’s 13 F filings, six hedge funds are especially positive on Groupon as it’s in their Top 10 picks in their stock portfolios.
Nea Management Company is the most upbeat on the stock with ownership of 44.17 million shares as of the fourth-quarter 2014, accounting for 17.69% of the fund’s portfolio. Next, Stanley Shopkorn And Douglas Day’s Hilltop Park Associate hold 350,000 shares of the company or 10.25% of their stock portfolio. TCS Capital Management, a New York-based company, has 5.23% of their stock portfolio invested in Groupon, or 1 million shares, notes the report.
