Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) Stock Price

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) had its price target lowered by investment analysts at Citigroup from $88.00 to $86.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 11.99% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also commented on CSGP. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of CoStar Group in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on 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. StockNews.com lowered CoStar Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.00.

CoStar Group Price Performance

Shares of CSGP stock opened at $76.79 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $31.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 219.40 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 8.96 and a quick ratio of 9.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $73.83 and its 200 day moving average is $75.39. CoStar Group has a 1-year low of $68.26 and a 1-year high of $100.38.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last released 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. The business had revenue of $709.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $703.00 million. CoStar Group had a net margin of 5.07% and a return on equity of 3.11%. Research analysts predict that CoStar Group will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael J. Desmarais sold 5,500 shares of CoStar Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.88, for a total transaction of $439,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,696,784.24. The trade was a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CoStar Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CoStar Group during the 4th quarter worth about $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 purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in CoStar Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in CoStar Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CoStar Group by 414.4% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.60% of the company’s stock.

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.