Kensico Capital Management Corp Makes New Investment in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Kensico Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 715,800 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,244,000. CoStar Group comprises about 1.2% of Kensico Capital Management Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CSGP. Bamco Inc. NY raised its holdings in CoStar Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 19,203,564 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,374,783,000 after purchasing an additional 418,128 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in CoStar Group by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,032,363 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,004,578,000 after acquiring an additional 4,345,267 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in CoStar Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,475,755 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $819,678,000 after acquiring an additional 166,769 shares during the period. Akre Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CoStar Group by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 9,313,880 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $666,781,000 after purchasing an additional 379,787 shares during the period. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CoStar Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $465,134,000. 96.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of CoStar Group in a report on Friday, February 28th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of CoStar Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of CoStar Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on CoStar Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $89.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on CoStar Group from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CoStar Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.31.

CoStar Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CSGP opened at $74.56 on Friday. CoStar Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.26 and a 12-month high of $90.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 213.03 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $78.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.18. The company has a quick ratio of 9.63, a current ratio of 8.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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

CoStar Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

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

CoStar Group Profile

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.