Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Zillow Group was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from “hold” to “buy”, adding to a wave of recent analyst support. Other firms have also turned more bullish, though JPMorgan and KBW trimmed price targets while keeping their broader ratings intact.
• The company’s latest earnings beat expectations, with Q1 EPS of $0.53 versus estimates of $0.43 and revenue of $708 million slightly ahead of forecasts. Management also pointed to strong for-sale growth, improving Rentals momentum, and nearly doubled mortgage originations.
• Despite the upbeat results, risks remain: the stock has been volatile, insider sales have continued, and multiple law firms have announced securities class action investigations. Some coverage also noted that weaker-than-hoped guidance tempered investor enthusiasm.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on Z. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Zillow Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Zillow Group from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Zillow Group from $84.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Zillow Group from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Zillow Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.75.

Zillow Group Price Performance

NASDAQ Z opened at $41.43 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $43.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.72. Zillow Group has a 12 month low of $39.05 and a 12 month high of $93.88. The company has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 165.72, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 2.07.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.10. Zillow Group had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 1.37%. The business had revenue of $708.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $705.10 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Zillow Group will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zillow Group

In other news, CFO Jeremy Hofmann sold 7,786 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $340,481.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 57,487 shares in the company, valued at $2,513,906.51. The trade was a 11.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Dan Spaulding sold 5,361 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $235,615.95. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,080 shares in the company, valued at $1,805,466. This represents a 11.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 60,801 shares of company stock valued at $2,683,986 over the last three months. 25.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in Z. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new position in Zillow Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $196,677,000. Scge Management L.P. purchased a new position in Zillow Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $133,990,000. L1 Capital Pty Ltd grew its position in Zillow Group by 24,803.7% during the fourth quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd now owns 1,729,313 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $117,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,369 shares in the last quarter. Soma Equity Partners LP grew its position in Zillow Group by 389.5% during the third quarter. Soma Equity Partners LP now owns 1,468,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $113,147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,168,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Zillow Group by 183.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,632,369 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $111,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057,192 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zillow Group News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Zillow Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zillow reported Q1 earnings of $0.53 per share, topping estimates, with revenue of $708 million also slightly ahead of expectations. The company also highlighted strong for-sale growth, faster Rentals momentum, and nearly doubled mortgage originations, reinforcing the case that its broader platform strategy is working. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentators said Zillow’s earnings power remains intact, pointing to share gains, deeper monetization, and growth in new products such as AI tools, seller services, and pre-marketing initiatives. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research upgraded Zillow from hold to strong-buy, which can support sentiment by signaling improving analyst confidence in the stock’s outlook. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Another bullish take argued that investors are underestimating Zillow’s AI-driven platform transformation and its ability to grow into a more integrated real-estate ecosystem. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan and KBW both trimmed price targets, but kept their broader ratings intact. That suggests Wall Street still sees upside, though the lowered targets may cap enthusiasm in the near term. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Zillow’s Q1 report and related coverage also emphasized higher profit, but lower traffic and a mixed housing backdrop, leaving the market focused on whether growth can continue without sacrificing margins. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms, including Rosen and Pomerantz, announced or reiterated securities class action investigations tied to alleged misleading business information, adding legal risk and uncertainty for investors. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, some market coverage said the stock slipped because Q2 guidance failed to impress, suggesting investors were looking for a stronger forward outlook than Zillow provided. Article Title

About Zillow Group

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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