Clearbridge Investments LLC Increases Stock Position in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 522,077 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.13% of CoStar Group worth $50,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CSGP. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CoStar Group during the fourth quarter worth about $406,934,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of CoStar Group by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,036,609 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $352,759,000 after acquiring an additional 982,837 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of CoStar Group by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,414,313 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $210,987,000 after buying an additional 796,386 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in CoStar Group by 109.6% during the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,398,896 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $122,249,000 after acquiring an additional 731,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CoStar Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,451,499 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,322,615,000 after purchasing an additional 541,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Scott T. Wheeler sold 122,736 shares of CoStar Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $11,366,580.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 303,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,099,448.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Michael J. Desmarais sold 3,800 shares of CoStar Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.67, for a total value of $352,146.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 64,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,938,942.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott T. Wheeler sold 122,736 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total value of $11,366,580.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 303,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,099,448.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CSGP shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of CoStar Group from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Bank of America cut their price target on CoStar Group from $111.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CoStar Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.08.

CoStar Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CSGP traded down $0.67 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $74.84. The company had a trading volume of 3,548,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,271,220. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $77.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.11. CoStar Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.35 and a 12 month high of $100.38. The stock has a market cap of $30.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.52, a PEG ratio of 11.08 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 9.09, a current ratio of 9.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.05. CoStar Group had a return on equity of 4.95% and a net margin of 11.64%. The firm had revenue of $656.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.27 million. As a group, research analysts expect that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current year.

CoStar Group Company 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.