Nuveen LLC Makes New Investment in CoStar Group, Inc. $CSGP

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a new stake of over 1 million shares in CoStar Group, valued at approximately $82.76 million, now owning 0.25% of the company.
• CoStar Group's stock has received varied ratings from analysts, with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $93.25, reflecting strong sentiment despite some varying price targets.
• The company reported a 15.2% increase in revenue year-over-year, achieving $781.30 million in its latest quarterly earnings, with earnings per share beating estimates.

Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,044,506 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $82,756,000. Nuveen LLC owned 0.25% of CoStar Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CoStar Group during the first quarter valued at about $586,403,000. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of CoStar Group by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,032,363 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,004,578,000 after buying an additional 4,345,267 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in CoStar Group by 4.1% during the 1st 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 last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in CoStar Group by 24.6% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in CoStar Group by 2,181.8% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,129,307 shares of the technology company's stock worth $80,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079,815 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of CoStar Group from $83.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citigroup increased their target price on CoStar Group from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of CoStar Group in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "underweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective (up from $65.00) on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of CoStar Group from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $93.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Frederick G. Saint sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,790,620.97. This represents a 7.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 2,033 shares of CoStar Group 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 25,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,392,837.35. This trade represents a 7.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.09% of the company's stock.

CoStar Group Price Performance

CSGP traded down $0.99 during trading on Monday, reaching $88.68. The stock had a trading volume of 1,024,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,194,618. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $86.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 354.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.85. CoStar Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.26 and a 1-year high of $97.43. The company has a quick ratio of 5.83, a current ratio of 5.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $781.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $772.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. CoStar Group's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CoStar Group 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.