Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stock Position in Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) by 20.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 395,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,239 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Huron Consulting Group were worth $42,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Huron Consulting Group by 5.7% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 574,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,394,000 after buying an additional 31,123 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 29.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 538,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,512,000 after acquiring an additional 121,371 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 445,694 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,447,000 after acquiring an additional 8,972 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Huron Consulting Group by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 380,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,308,000 after purchasing an additional 17,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Huron Consulting Group by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 181,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director H Eugene Lockhart sold 1,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,219,564.36. This trade represents a 3.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James H. Roth sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.42, for a total value of $256,840.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 54,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,126 shares of company stock worth $865,710. 2.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Huron Consulting Group Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Huron Consulting Group stock opened at $120.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.20 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $117.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.61. Huron Consulting Group Inc. has a one year low of $84.26 and a one year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $370.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $377.63 million. Huron Consulting Group had a return on equity of 21.51% and a net margin of 5.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Huron Consulting Group Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current 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.