Zillow Group, Inc. $ZG Stake Lifted by Ethic Inc.

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its stake in Zillow Group by 140.4% in Q1, acquiring a total of 9,345 shares valued at approximately $636,000.
• Zillow Group reported $0.40 EPS for the last quarter, missing analyst expectations of $0.44, despite a revenue of $655 million exceeding projections.
• Insiders sold over 580,000 shares of Zillow Group stock recently, indicating significant movements in ownership, with Dan Spaulding and Chairman Richard N. Barton reducing their positions markedly.

Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZG - Free Report) by 140.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,345 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 5,457 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Zillow Group were worth $636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP grew its holdings in Zillow Group by 39.5% in the 1st quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 6,550 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 1,853 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zillow Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $8,950,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 79.4% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 488 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 121,036 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,092,000 after purchasing an additional 28,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,002,693 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $468,200,000 after purchasing an additional 57,693 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ZG. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $66.00 price target (up from $60.00) on shares of Zillow Group in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 price target (down from $100.00) on shares of Zillow Group in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Zillow Group from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Zillow Group from $77.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Zillow Group from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $85.62.

Zillow Group Stock Up 7.7%

Shares of ZG traded up $6.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $83.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 714,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 534,308. Zillow Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.16 and a twelve month high of $86.58. The company has a market cap of $20.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -322.77, a P/E/G ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 2.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $74.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.80.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). Zillow Group had a negative net margin of 2.60% and a negative return on equity of 1.26%. The firm had revenue of $655.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $647.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. Zillow Group's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Zillow Group, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeremy Wacksman sold 11,275 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.73, for a total value of $966,605.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 153,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,126,377.49. The trade was a 6.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard N. Barton sold 150,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.68, for a total value of $12,852,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 2,501,225 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $214,304,958. The trade was a 5.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 580,379 shares of company stock worth $49,319,729. Corporate insiders own 17.14% of the company's stock.

About Zillow Group

Zillow Group, Inc operates real estate brands in mobile applications and Websites in the United States. The company offers premier agent and rentals marketplaces, new construction marketplaces, advertising, display advertising, and business technology solutions, as well as dotloop and floor plans. It also provides mortgage originations and the sale of mortgages, and advertising to mortgage lenders and other mortgage professionals; and title and escrow services.