Cantor Fitzgerald Cuts Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) Price Target to $46.00

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald cut its price target on Zillow Group to $46 (from $56) and kept a "neutral" rating, implying roughly a 4% upside from the prior close.
• Analysts remain divided but the consensus is a Hold with an average price target of $77.05, reflecting a wide range of targets and mixed sentiment among brokerage firms.
• Zillow shares traded near $44.22, below most targets; the company slightly missed quarterly EPS expectations ($0.39 vs. $0.42), carries a very high PE (~491), and insiders have been net sellers (about 60,801 shares sold over the last three months).

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $56.00 to $46.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the technology company's stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's price target would suggest a potential upside of 4.03% from the company's previous close.

ZG has been the topic of several other reports. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $72.00 target price on Zillow Group in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Zillow Group from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Susquehanna set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Zillow Group in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 target price (down from $85.00) on shares of Zillow Group in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Citizens Jmp decreased their price target on shares of Zillow Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zillow Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.05.

Zillow Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ZG traded down $0.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $44.22. The company had a trading volume of 33,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,165,541. Zillow Group has a twelve month low of $40.69 and a twelve month high of $90.22. The stock's 50 day moving average is $51.78 and its 200-day moving average is $64.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.61 billion, a PE ratio of 491.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 2.05.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $654.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $650.40 million. Zillow Group had a net margin of 0.89% and a return on equity of 0.56%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zillow Group will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO David A. Beitel sold 3,966 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.22, for a total transaction of $175,376.52. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 136,690 shares in the company, valued at $6,044,431.80. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Errol G. Samuelson sold 7,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.21, for a total transaction of $310,133.15. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 113,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,031,098. This represents a 5.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 60,801 shares of company stock valued at $2,683,986 over the last three months. Company insiders own 17.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Zillow Group during the 2nd quarter worth $159,770,000. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Zillow Group by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 2,024,556 shares of the technology company's stock worth $138,135,000 after acquiring an additional 21,862 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 38,344.0% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,604,270 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $120,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600,097 shares during the period. Tiger Global Management LLC boosted its holdings in Zillow Group by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC now owns 1,023,733 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $69,849,000 after acquiring an additional 240,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its position in Zillow Group by 44.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,018,448 shares of the technology company's stock worth $69,489,000 after purchasing an additional 313,643 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.32% of the company's stock.

Zillow Group Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.