CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,440,000 shares, an increase of 24.8% from the April 30th total of 4,360,000 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CBRE Group news, insider Chad J. Doellinger sold 797 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.31, for a total transaction of $100,669.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 28,735 shares in the company, valued at $3,629,517.85. The trade was a 2.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Emma E. Giamartino sold 2,000 shares of CBRE Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.69, for a total value of $251,380.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,343 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,491,941.67. This trade represents a 1.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,396 shares of company stock valued at $685,649 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CBRE Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CBRE Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $514,609,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of CBRE Group by 290.0% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,050,089 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $531,736,000 after acquiring an additional 3,011,566 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of CBRE Group by 217.4% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,913,299 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $511,781,000 after purchasing an additional 2,680,337 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CBRE Group in the first quarter valued at about $214,283,000. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in CBRE Group during the fourth quarter worth $190,695,000. 98.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CBRE Group Stock Up 0.1%

CBRE stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $127.50. 1,222,502 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,834,114. The firm has a market cap of $38.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.07. CBRE Group has a 1-year low of $84.24 and a 1-year high of $147.75. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $123.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.30.

CBRE Group (NYSE:CBRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. CBRE Group had a return on equity of 16.96% and a net margin of 2.71%. The firm had revenue of $8.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CBRE Group will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CBRE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on CBRE Group from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group lowered their price target on CBRE Group from $146.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of CBRE Group from $163.00 to $141.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on CBRE Group from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded CBRE Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $149.22.

About CBRE Group

CBRE Group, Inc operates as a commercial real estate services and investment company in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The Advisory Services segment offers strategic advice and execution to owners, investors, and occupiers of real estate in connection with leasing of offices, and industrial and retail space; clients fully integrated property sales services under the CBRE Capital Markets brand; clients commercial mortgage and structured financing services; originates and sells commercial mortgage loans; property management services, such as marketing, building engineering, accounting, and financial services on a contractual basis for owners of and investors in office, industrial, and retail properties; and valuation services that include market value appraisals, litigation support, discounted cash flow analyses, and feasibility studies, as well as consulting services, such as property condition reports, hotel advisory, and environmental consulting.