StockNews.com Downgrades CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) to Sell

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

CSGP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of CoStar Group from $78.00 to $75.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of CoStar Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.92.

CoStar Group Price Performance

CoStar Group stock opened at $69.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $74.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 9.63 and a quick ratio of 9.63. CoStar Group has a 1 year low of $68.26 and a 1 year high of $100.38. The stock has a market cap of $28.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 158.21 and a beta of 0.85.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. CoStar Group had a return on equity of 3.53% and a net margin of 6.57%. The firm had revenue of $692.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $695.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that CoStar Group will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael J. Desmarais sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.88, for a total value of $439,340.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,696,784.24. This trade represents a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew C. Florance bought 14,731 shares of CoStar Group stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $74.67 per share, with a total value of $1,099,963.77. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,263,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,315,527.66. The trade was a 1.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CoStar Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of CoStar Group by 534.8% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 419 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in CoStar Group during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in CoStar Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of CoStar Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $91,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in CoStar Group by 55.1% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,374 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. 96.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.