Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 65,717,391 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 36,929 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 16.03% of CoStar Group worth $4,704,708,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of CoStar Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $230,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in CoStar Group by 7.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,414 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in CoStar Group by 101.1% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 14,553 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after acquiring an additional 7,317 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its position in CoStar Group by 469.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 248,043 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $18,712,000 after purchasing an additional 204,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 206.5% during the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 20,842 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,572,000 after purchasing an additional 14,042 shares during the period. 96.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of CoStar Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup cut their price target on CoStar Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair initiated coverage on CoStar Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Craig Hallum started coverage on CoStar Group in a report on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.07.

CoStar Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSGP opened at $80.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.75. The company has a quick ratio of 9.63, a current ratio of 8.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 228.97 and a beta of 0.93. CoStar Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.26 and a 52 week high of $97.64.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. The company had revenue of $709.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $703.00 million. CoStar Group had a net margin of 5.07% and a return on equity of 3.11%. On average, equities analysts predict that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CoStar Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 1,749 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.90, for a total transaction of $139,745.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,353,534.40. This trade represents a 5.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About CoStar Group

CoStar Group, Inc provides information, analytics, and online marketplace services to the commercial real estate, hospitality, residential, and related professionals industries in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company offers CoStar Property that provides inventory of office, industrial, retail, multifamily, hospitality, and student housing properties and land; CoStar Sales, a robust database of comparable commercial real estate sales transactions; CoStar Market Analytics to view and report on aggregated market and submarket trends; and CoStar Tenant, an online business-to-business prospecting and analytical tool that provides tenant information.