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

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN - Free Report) by 20.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 395,788 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 67,239 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 2.23% of Huron Consulting Group worth $42,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Huron Consulting Group in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 7.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,373 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new position in Huron Consulting Group during the 3rd quarter worth $220,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp bought a new stake in Huron Consulting Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $220,000. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management bought a new stake in Huron Consulting Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $219,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huron Consulting Group Stock Down 1.2 %

HURN traded down $1.40 on Wednesday, hitting $119.10. The company had a trading volume of 116,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 119,795. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $117.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.81. Huron Consulting Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.26 and a 12-month high of $131.06.

Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $370.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.63 million. Huron Consulting Group had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 21.51%. Huron Consulting Group's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Huron Consulting Group Inc. will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huron Consulting Group

In other news, Director James H. Roth sold 2,000 shares of Huron Consulting Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.42, for a total transaction of $256,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director H Eugene Lockhart sold 1,042 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total transaction of $127,968.02. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 26,756 shares in the company, valued at $3,285,904.36. This trade represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,126 shares of company stock worth $865,710. 2.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Huron Consulting Group 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.