Zillow Group, Inc. $Z Shares Purchased by ABC Arbitrage SA

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA dramatically increased its Zillow Group stake by 1,052% in the fourth quarter, ending with 49,616 shares valued at about $3.39 million.
• Wall Street sentiment has improved overall: several analysts upgraded Zillow, and the stock now carries a consensus Moderate Buy rating with a $79.75 price target, though JPMorgan recently lowered its target to $76.
• Zillow beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $0.53 versus $0.43 expected and revenue of $708 million, but the stock was still down, opening around $40.44 and near its 52-week low.

ABC Arbitrage SA raised its stake in Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z - Free Report) by 1,052.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 45,309 shares during the quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA's holdings in Zillow Group were worth $3,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of Z. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Zillow Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Zillow Group during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zillow Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Zillow Group by 58.6% during the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 441 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 32.8% in the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 546 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Zillow Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Zillow Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Zillow Group in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Zillow Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Zillow Group from $84.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.75.

Zillow Group Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of Z stock opened at $40.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 161.76, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 2.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.22. Zillow Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.05 and a 52 week high of $93.88.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $705.10 million. Zillow Group had a return on equity of 1.41% and a net margin of 2.27%. Analysts expect that Zillow Group, Inc. will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO David A. Beitel sold 3,966 shares of Zillow Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.22, for a total value of $175,376.52. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 136,690 shares in the company, valued at $6,044,431.80. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeremy Wacksman sold 13,661 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.25, for a total transaction of $604,499.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 116,322 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,147,248.50. The trade was a 10.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 60,801 shares of company stock valued at $2,683,986 in the last three months. 23.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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