Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases 292,760 Shares of Zillow Group, Inc. $Z

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings PLC sharply increased its Zillow Group stake in the first quarter, buying 292,760 additional shares and lifting its position by 199.9% to 439,222 shares worth about $18.2 million.
• Several insiders sold shares recently, including General Counsel Bradley D. Owens and CFO Jeremy Hofmann, with total insider sales of 42,910 shares over the past 90 days.
• Zillow faces ongoing class-action lawsuit pressure tied to alleged misrepresentations and an anticompetitive agreement, even as analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy.

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z - Free Report) by 199.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 439,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 292,760 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.18% of Zillow Group worth $18,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its holdings in Zillow Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 10,953,405 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $747,241,000 after acquiring an additional 94,569 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Zillow Group by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,826,066 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $738,554,000 after purchasing an additional 191,058 shares during the last quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC boosted its stake in Zillow Group by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC now owns 6,056,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $413,206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011,813 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,838,788 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $261,882,000 after purchasing an additional 143,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,363,657 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $228,898,000 after purchasing an additional 55,323 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Zillow Group news, General Counsel Bradley D. Owens sold 3,364 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.23, for a total value of $125,241.72. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 65,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,429,071.35. This trade represents a 4.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Jeremy Hofmann sold 5,501 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.40, for a total transaction of $205,737.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 68,315 shares in the company, valued at $2,554,981. The trade was a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 42,910 shares of company stock valued at $1,605,732 in the last 90 days. 23.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Zillow Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting Zillow Group this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Multiple firms, including Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, Rosen, Schall, Portnoy, and others, reiterated class-action claims against Zillow Group over alleged misrepresentations tied to an anticompetitive agreement, with investor deadlines approaching. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Law firms are actively soliciting Zillow investors to join the securities class action, which keeps legal risk in focus and can add to near-term pressure on the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: One unrelated story noted that Zillow-listed empty lots could help address the U.S. housing shortage, which is broadly constructive for housing-market discussion but does not directly change Zillow’s fundamentals. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on Z shares. Zacks Research raised Zillow Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Zillow Group from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Zillow Group from $95.00 to $70.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Zillow Group from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Zillow Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.38.

Zillow Group Stock Performance

Z stock opened at $31.85 on Wednesday. Zillow Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.23 and a fifty-two week high of $93.88. The business's 50-day moving average is $33.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.51. The company has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.98.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $708.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $705.10 million. Zillow Group had a return on equity of 1.41% and a net margin of 2.27%. Equities analysts predict that Zillow Group, Inc. will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zillow Group Profile

Zillow Group, Inc is an online real estate marketplace company that operates a portfolio of consumer-facing websites and mobile apps designed to connect buyers, sellers, renters, homeowners and real estate professionals. The company's platforms aggregate property listings, rental listings, and related information to help users search for homes, estimate property values and connect with agents and service providers. Zillow generates revenue primarily through advertising and lead-generation services for real estate professionals, property managers and mortgage lenders.

Key products and services include the Zillow and Trulia consumer websites and apps, which provide searchable listings, photos, neighborhood data and the company's automated home valuation tool known as the “Zestimate.” Zillow also offers a rentals marketplace, a mortgage marketplace and tools for home buying and selling such as Zillow Premier Agent for agent advertising and leads, as well as ancillary services designed to support transactions, including closing and title-related offerings.

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