Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) Price Target Cut to $35.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) had its price target cut by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $35.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 26.82% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on Z. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Zillow Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Evercore lowered Zillow Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research cut Zillow Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Zillow Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Zillow Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.71.

Zillow Group Price Performance

Shares of Z stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $27.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,059,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,158,409. Zillow Group has a 1-year low of $26.67 and a 1-year high of $79.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $32.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.29. The company has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 125.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 2.04.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.07. Zillow Group had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 2.32%. The company had revenue of $772.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $758.10 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zillow Group will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Zillow Group

In other Zillow Group news, CFO Jeremy Hofmann sold 5,661 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total value of $193,492.98. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,021,541.92. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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. Also, insider Errol Samuelson sold 3,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.24, for a total transaction of $107,992.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 130,885 shares in the company, valued at $4,481,502.40. The trade was a 2.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 38,539 shares of company stock worth $1,323,800 over the last ninety days. 23.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zillow Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Leonteq Securities AG lifted its holdings in Zillow Group by 627.0% during the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 1,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 283.2% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zillow Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $78,000. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA increased its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 1,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional acquired a new stake in shares of Zillow Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $110,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Zillow Group

Zillow Group, Inc is a technology company that operates digital real estate marketplaces and related services in the United States. Its platforms help consumers search for homes to buy or rent, research neighborhoods and property values, connect with real estate professionals, and manage aspects of the transaction process.

The company’s portfolio includes Zillow, Trulia, StreetEasy and HotPads, along with services such as Zillow Premier Agent, Zillow Rentals, ShowingTime+ and Zillow Home Loans.