Legal & General Group Plc Sells 69,867 Shares of Zillow Group, Inc. $Z

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its Zillow Group stake by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 69,867 shares and leaving it with 687,308 shares valued at about $46.9 million.
• Zillow stock was trading down 1.2% at $35.00, near its 12-month low of $34.70, while still carrying a market cap of about $8.01 billion.
• Zillow’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $0.53 versus $0.43 expected and revenue of $708 million slightly above estimates; analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a $77 consensus target.

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its stake in Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z - Free Report) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 687,308 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 69,867 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.28% of Zillow Group worth $46,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Zillow Group during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 32.8% during the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 546 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Zillow Group during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 4,119.0% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 886 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,186 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Zillow Group Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:Z opened at $35.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 140.00, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 2.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.63. Zillow Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.70 and a 12 month high of $93.88.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Bradley D. Owens sold 3,364 shares of Zillow Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.23, for a total transaction of $125,241.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 65,245 shares in the company, valued at $2,429,071.35. This trade represents a 4.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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, insider Dan Spaulding sold 3,078 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.40, for a total transaction of $115,117.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 49,696 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,630.40. The trade was a 5.83% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 42,119 shares of company stock valued at $1,578,206. 25.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Zillow Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Zillow Group from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Zillow Group from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Zillow Group from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Zillow Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.00.

About Zillow Group

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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