Jeremy Wacksman Sells 5,786 Shares of Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) Stock

Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZG) CEO Jeremy Wacksman sold 5,786 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.24, for a total transaction of $198,112.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 147,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,064,541.12. The trade was a 3.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Jeremy Wacksman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 17th, Jeremy Wacksman sold 9,339 shares of Zillow Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total value of $319,207.02.
• On Friday, May 22nd, Jeremy Wacksman sold 9,072 shares of Zillow Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.54, for a total transaction of $331,490.88.

Zillow Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ ZG opened at $35.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 160.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $33.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.80. Zillow Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.03 and a fifty-two week high of $90.22.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.08. Zillow Group had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 2.32%. The business had revenue of $772.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $758.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Zillow Group, Inc. will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Zillow Group from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Citizens Jmp dropped their price objective on shares of Zillow Group from $75.00 to $46.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Zillow Group from $53.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Evercore set a $40.00 target price on Zillow Group and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Zillow Group from $50.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zillow Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.29.

Zillow Group News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Zillow Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: U.S. asking rents rose to $1,962 in July, increasing 2.3% from a year earlier—the fastest growth in more than a year. Strong rental demand could support Zillow’s traffic, advertising activity and rental-related revenue. Rents near $2,000, rising at the fastest pace in over a year
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Jeremy Wacksman, CFO Jeremy Hofmann, CAO Jennifer Rock, CTO David Beitel and other insiders sold shares worth roughly $1.5 million in aggregate. The transactions were made under pre-arranged trading plans or to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards, making them a relatively weak signal of deteriorating management confidence. Zillow Group insider filings
• Negative Sentiment: Rental concessions increased to 39.8% of Zillow listings in July from 35.9% a year earlier. Although rent growth remains positive, the higher use of concessions suggests landlords still face competitive pressure, which could temper the benefit to Zillow’s rental marketplace.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts have recently lowered several price targets, including Wells Fargo’s reduction to $35 and Canaccord Genuity’s reduction to $40. Zillow Group’s consensus rating remains “Hold,” despite its latest quarterly earnings beat of $0.52 per share versus the $0.44 estimate. Zillow Group analyst and stock information

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zillow Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZG. Arax Advisory Partners increased its position in Zillow Group by 402.3% during the fourth quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 442 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Zillow Group during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Zillow Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Zillow Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Zillow Group by 4,130.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 846 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. 20.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Zillow Group

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) is a U.S.-based online real estate marketplace that connects consumers, real estate professionals and mortgage lenders through a suite of digital products and advertising services. Founded in 2006 by Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company operates a portfolio of consumer-facing brands and tools designed to simplify home search, rental discovery, valuation and mortgage shopping.

Zillow’s core products include its consumer websites and mobile apps that list homes for sale and rent, the Zestimate automated home value estimate, and marketplaces that connect buyers and renters with agents and lenders.