Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) Shares Climb 7.5% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z) traded up 7.5% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $30.09 and last traded at $30.4440. 673,428 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 4,153,494 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Z has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Zillow Group from $60.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Zillow Group in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Zillow Group from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Zacks Research downgraded Zillow Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Evercore lowered Zillow Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.71.

Zillow Group Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.99. The firm has a market cap of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 140.10, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 2.04.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.07. Zillow Group had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 1.96%. The firm had revenue of $772.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $758.10 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Zillow Group, Inc. will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zillow Group

In related news, CFO Jeremy Hofmann sold 5,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total value of $193,492.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,144 shares in the company, valued at $2,021,541.92. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Errol G. Samuelson sold 3,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.24, for a total transaction of $107,992.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 130,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,481,502.40. This trade represents a 2.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,539 shares of company stock valued at $1,323,800. 25.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zillow Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tiger Global Management LLC raised its holdings in Zillow Group by 21.7% during the first quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC now owns 7,368,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $304,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,312,000 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,896,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,461,000 after buying an additional 338,803 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 455.6% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 641,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,550,000 after buying an additional 526,142 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 491,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,352,000 after buying an additional 33,200 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 199.9% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 439,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,182,000 after buying an additional 292,760 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

About Zillow Group

Zillow Group, Inc is a technology company that operates digital real estate marketplaces and related services in the United States. Its platforms help consumers search for homes to buy or rent, research neighborhoods and property values, connect with real estate professionals, and manage aspects of the transaction process.

The company’s portfolio includes Zillow, Trulia, StreetEasy and HotPads, along with services such as Zillow Premier Agent, Zillow Rentals, ShowingTime+ and Zillow Home Loans.