CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) Earns “Sector Perform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reiterated by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $83.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 5.41% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of CoStar Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on CoStar Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on CoStar Group from $78.00 to $75.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of CoStar Group from $108.00 to $99.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.08.

CoStar Group Trading Up 4.4 %

NASDAQ:CSGP traded up $3.28 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $78.74. The company had a trading volume of 2,159,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,526,032. CoStar Group has a 1 year low of $68.26 and a 1 year high of $100.38. The company has a market cap of $32.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 178.97 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.79 and a 200 day moving average of $75.34. The company has a current ratio of 9.63, a quick ratio of 9.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The company had revenue of $709.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $703.00 million. CoStar Group had a return on equity of 3.53% and a net margin of 6.57%. Sell-side analysts expect that CoStar Group will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

CoStar Group declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael J. Desmarais sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.88, for a total value of $439,340.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 58,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,696,784.24. This represents a 8.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CoStar Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSGP. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CoStar Group in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in CoStar Group by 534.8% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 419 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of CoStar Group during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new stake in CoStar Group in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 414.4% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 499 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in 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.