Vulcan Value Partners LLC Sells 265,961 Shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Key Points

• Vulcan Value Partners LLC reduced its stake in CoStar Group by 5.2%, now holding approximately 4.83 million shares, making it the firm's third largest holding at a value of $382.95 million.
• Other hedge funds have increased their positions in CoStar Group, notably Capital International Investors which raised its holdings by 44.9%, now owning over 14 million shares valued at around $1 billion.
• Equities analysts show strong support for CoStar Group, with recent upgrades raising the price targets to between $100 and $105, and the company holding an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

Vulcan Value Partners LLC lowered its holdings in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP - Free Report) by 5.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,833,477 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 265,961 shares during the period. CoStar Group makes up 7.2% of Vulcan Value Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Vulcan Value Partners LLC owned about 1.15% of CoStar Group worth $382,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CoStar Group in the first quarter worth $29,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of CoStar Group in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 137.4% in the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 406 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CoStar Group in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 414.4% in the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 499 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at CoStar Group

In other news, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 2,033 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 25,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,392,837.35. The trade was a 7.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Frederick G. Saint sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.23, for a total transaction of $2,330,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 319,539 shares in the company, valued at $29,790,620.97. This trade represents a 7.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.09% of the company's stock.

CoStar Group Price Performance

Shares of CSGP traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $94.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,841,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,836,619. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $82.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 378.40, a PEG ratio of 4.61 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 5.83 and a quick ratio of 5.83. CoStar Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.26 and a fifty-two week high of $97.15.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $781.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $772.06 million. CoStar Group had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 2.88%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of CoStar Group from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised 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. 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 report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of CoStar Group from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.