NS Partners Ltd Acquires 4,675 Shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Key Points

• NS Partners Ltd increased its position in CoStar Group shares by 2.2%, owning 219,520 shares valued at approximately $17.4 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• CoStar Group's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $0.17 EPS, beating the consensus estimate by $0.03, and its revenue grew by 15.2% year-over-year.
• Institutional and hedge funds own a significant 96.60% of CoStar Group's stock, highlighting strong institutional interest in the company.

NS Partners Ltd boosted its stake in shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 219,520 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,675 shares during the quarter. NS Partners Ltd owned about 0.05% of CoStar Group worth $17,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in CoStar Group in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of CoStar Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 137.4% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 406 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CoStar Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in CoStar Group during the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 96.60% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CoStar Group news, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 2,033 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,392,837.35. This represents a 7.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Frederick G. Saint sold 25,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider owned 319,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,790,620.97. The trade was a 7.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CoStar Group Stock Down 4.7%

CoStar Group stock traded down $4.37 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $88.13. 2,442,088 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,180,876. CoStar Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.26 and a 52 week high of $97.43. The business's 50 day moving average is $85.34 and its 200 day moving average is $79.98. The company has a market capitalization of $37.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 353.04, a PEG ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.85. 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 (NASDAQ:CSGP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $781.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $772.06 million. CoStar Group had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 2.88%. The firm's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. Analysts predict that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CSGP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of CoStar Group from $87.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on CoStar Group in a report on Friday, May 30th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $79.00 target price for the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on CoStar Group from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on CoStar Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $93.25.

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.