CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) Shares Acquired by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its shareholding in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) by 12.9%, acquiring an additional 2,732 shares, bringing its total to 23,869 shares valued at approximately $1.89 million.
• Insiders, including Frederick G. Saint and CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann, sold a total of 27,033 shares, representing a significant decrease in their ownership percentages.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for CoStar Group, with several firms projecting targets ranging from $70.00 to $105.00, indicating a generally positive outlook for the stock.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP - Free Report) by 12.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,869 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,732 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in CoStar Group were worth $1,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CSGP. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in CoStar Group in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in CoStar Group in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in CoStar Group in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in CoStar Group by 137.4% in the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 406 shares of the technology company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in CoStar Group in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Frederick G. Saint sold 25,000 shares of the business'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 value of $2,330,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 319,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,790,620.97. The trade was a 7.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 2,033 shares of the business'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 value of $188,764.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 25,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,392,837.35. This trade represents a 7.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSGP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on CoStar Group from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on CoStar Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CoStar Group from $87.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on CoStar Group in a report on Friday, May 30th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $79.00 target price on the stock. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.25.

CoStar Group Stock Up 1.9%

CSGP stock traded up $1.69 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $89.66. 2,534,265 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,387,803. The company has a current ratio of 5.83, a quick ratio of 5.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CoStar Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.26 and a 12-month high of $97.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $86.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 358.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.85.

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

CoStar Group Company 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.