LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Purchases 16,490 Shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Key Points

• LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. significantly increased its stake in CoStar Group, raising it by 67.4% to a total of 40,956 shares, valued at approximately $3.25 million.
• Analysts forecast a Moderate Buy rating for CoStar Group, with recent price target adjustments from firms like Citigroup and Needham & Company, indicating bullish sentiment for future performance.
• In recent insider transactions, Frederick G. Saint sold 25,000 shares of CoStar Group, resulting in a 7.26% decrease in his holdings, despite still owning over $29 million in shares.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP - Free Report) by 67.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,956 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,490 shares during the quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in CoStar Group were worth $3,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 4.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,426,711 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,421,448,000 after acquiring an additional 2,709,320 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY grew its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 19,203,564 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,374,783,000 after acquiring an additional 418,128 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,032,363 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,004,578,000 after acquiring an additional 4,345,267 shares in the last quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 9,313,880 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $666,781,000 after acquiring an additional 379,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 6.6% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 8,436,199 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $668,400,000 after acquiring an additional 524,601 shares in the last quarter. 96.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CoStar Group Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ CSGP traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $87.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,943,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,364,809. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.17. The stock has a market cap of $37.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 351.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.85. CoStar Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.26 and a 52 week high of $97.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 5.83 and a quick ratio of 5.83.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $781.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $772.06 million. CoStar Group had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 2.88%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CoStar Group news, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 2,033 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.85, for a total transaction of $188,764.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 25,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,392,837.35. This trade represents a 7.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Frederick G. Saint sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.23, for a total transaction of $2,330,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 319,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,790,620.97. The trade was a 7.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CSGP shares. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of CoStar Group from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of CoStar Group from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective (up from $65.00) on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.25.

CoStar Group Profile

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.