Macquarie Upgrade Halts The Group Selling Spree Of Groupon Inc (GRPN)’s Shares

How have hedgies been trading Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN)?

Heading into the second quarter, a total of 35 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 17% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.

According to hedge fund intelligence website Insider Monkey, Eric Bannasch‘s Cadian Capital had the biggest position in Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN), worth close to $85.4 million, comprising 2.3% of its total 13F portfolio. The second-largest stake was held by Leon Cooperman of Omega Advisors, with an $85.1 million position; 1.4% of his 13F portfolio was allocated to the stock. Some other hedgies that were bullish contain Israel Englander‘s Millennium Management, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies,and Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management.

Consequently, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, initiated the most valuable position in Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN). Renaissance Technologies had $21.7 million invested in the company at the end of the first three months. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also initiated a $14.1 million position during the first trimester. The other funds with brand new Groupon positions were Peter Muller’s PDT Partners, Michael Platt and William Reeves’ BlueCrest Capital Mgmt., and Noam Gottesman’s GLG Partners.

Some hedge funds clearly felt the price was reasonable to enter the stock in the first quarter, while those with larger positions cautiously trimmed them. Given that shares are down considerably since the end of the first trimester, we believe the stock is now at a reasonable level for investors to enter it, as previously bearish analysts now conclude as well.

Disclosure: None