National Bank of Canada FI Boosts Position in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in CoStar Group, acquiring an additional 81,760 shares to own a total of 342,341 shares, valued at approximately $27.1 million.
• CoStar Group's stock closed at $94.50 and has a market capitalization of $40.03 billion, with a P/E ratio of 378.00.
• Analysts have forecast a potential growth for CoStar Group, with recent price target increases, suggesting a strong buy rating from several research firms.

National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP - Free Report) by 31.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 342,341 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 81,760 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.08% of CoStar Group worth $27,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors raised its stake in CoStar Group by 44.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 4,345,267 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,415,895 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $459,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,263 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 2,181.8% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,129,307 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $80,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079,815 shares during the period. Finally, ShawSpring Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CoStar Group in the fourth quarter valued at $65,133,000. Institutional investors own 96.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at CoStar Group

In related news, insider Frederick G. Saint sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were 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 directly owned 319,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,790,620.97. This trade represents a 7.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 2,033 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.85, for a total transaction of $188,764.05. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 25,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,392,837.35. This represents a 7.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.09% of the company's stock.

CoStar Group Stock Down 4.4%

CoStar Group stock traded down $4.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $88.46. 5,088,429 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,028,937. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 5.83 and a current ratio of 5.83. 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 of $85.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.04. The company has a market cap of $37.48 billion, a PE ratio of 353.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.85.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 2.88%. The business had revenue of $781.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $772.06 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $70.00 target price (up previously from $65.00) on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Friday, May 30th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $79.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of CoStar Group from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of CoStar Group from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of CoStar Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.25.

About CoStar Group

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.