Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) Price Target Lowered to $32.00 at Cantor Fitzgerald

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Zillow Group’s price target to $32 from $34 and maintained a Neutral rating, implying roughly 13.3% downside from the prior close. The broader analyst consensus remains Hold, with a $61.90 target.
• Zillow exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.52 in adjusted EPS versus $0.44 expected and revenue of $772 million, up 17.9% year over year. However, the company posted a $4 million net loss after restructuring costs and announced more than 500 job cuts.
• The stock opened at $36.89 and was down 0.4%, while recent insider sales and weaker-than-expected revenue guidance added to investor concerns despite continued institutional ownership and some analysts retaining Buy ratings.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $34.00 to $32.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the technology company's stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's price target would indicate a potential downside of 13.26% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on ZG. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on Zillow Group from $72.00 to $52.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Zillow Group from $65.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Evercore set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Zillow Group in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Zillow Group from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Zillow Group in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.90.

Zillow Group Stock Down 0.4%

Zillow Group stock opened at $36.89 on Thursday. Zillow Group has a 12 month low of $29.03 and a 12 month high of $90.22. The stock has a market cap of $8.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 147.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.95. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $33.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.83.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $772.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $758.25 million. Zillow Group had a return on equity of 1.41% and a net margin of 2.27%.Zillow Group's quarterly revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Zillow Group will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Zillow Group

In other Zillow Group news, insider Errol G. Samuelson sold 2,939 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.97, for a total transaction of $111,593.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 134,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,089,460.83. The trade was a 2.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Jeremy Wacksman sold 9,072 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.54, for a total transaction of $331,490.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 153,699 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,616,161.46. This trade represents a 5.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,910 shares of company stock worth $1,605,732. Corporate insiders own 29.88% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Zillow Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Zillow Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $152,050,000. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 2,024,556 shares of the technology company's stock worth $138,135,000 after acquiring an additional 21,862 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 38,344.0% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,604,270 shares of the technology company's stock worth $120,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600,097 shares during the last quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC increased its position in Zillow Group by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC now owns 1,023,733 shares of the technology company's stock worth $69,849,000 after acquiring an additional 240,690 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its position in Zillow Group by 44.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,018,448 shares of the technology company's stock worth $69,489,000 after acquiring an additional 313,643 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.32% of the company's stock.

Zillow Group News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zillow reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.52 per share, above the $0.44 analyst consensus, while revenue rose 17.9% year over year to $772 million, exceeding estimates of approximately $758 million. Zillow Group Beats Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: KeyBanc maintained its Buy rating, signaling continued analyst support following the quarterly results. KeyBanc Maintains Buy Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Zillow expanded Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Hofmann’s responsibilities to include chief operating officer and appointed Cassandra Knight as its first chief legal and policy officer. The changes are intended to support the company’s housing “super app” strategy but add to leadership-transition uncertainty. Zillow Strengthens Executive Leadership Team
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue guidance of $745 million to $760 million fell below the $772.3 million consensus estimate. Full-year revenue guidance of $2.9 billion to $3.0 billion also only reached, rather than exceeded, the roughly $3.0 billion analyst forecast, raising concerns about slowing growth. Zillow Stock Sinks on Layoffs and Soft Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Zillow recorded a $4 million net loss after $36 million in restructuring costs, contrasting with analysts’ expectation for approximately $21 million of net income. The company also eliminated more than 500 positions, or about 7% of its workforce, suggesting management is cutting costs amid operating challenges. Zillow Swings to Loss on Restructuring Costs
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms reiterated notices about a securities-fraud class action and an August 10 lead-plaintiff deadline involving alleged anticompetitive agreements and regulatory risks. The legal announcements add reputational and potential financial-risk overhang, although they do not represent a final finding of wrongdoing. Zillow Securities Fraud Class Action Notice

About Zillow Group

Zillow Group NASDAQ: ZG is a U.S.-based online real estate marketplace that connects consumers, real estate professionals and mortgage lenders through a suite of digital products and advertising services. Founded in 2006 by Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company operates a portfolio of consumer-facing brands and tools designed to simplify home search, rental discovery, valuation and mortgage shopping.

Zillow's core products include its consumer websites and mobile apps that list homes for sale and rent, the Zestimate automated home value estimate, and marketplaces that connect buyers and renters with agents and lenders.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source