CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) Shares Bought by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 108,433 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,942 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CoStar Group were worth $7,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CoStar Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in CoStar Group by 534.8% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 419 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in CoStar Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in CoStar Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in CoStar Group by 414.4% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 499 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. 96.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CoStar Group Trading Down 2.4 %

CSGP opened at $77.81 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $77.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.91 billion, a PE ratio of 222.31 and a beta of 0.88. CoStar Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.26 and a 12-month high of $93.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 8.96 and a quick ratio of 9.63.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. CoStar Group had a return on equity of 3.11% and a net margin of 5.07%. The business had revenue of $709.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $703.00 million. As a group, research analysts expect that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CoStar Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at CoStar Group

In other CoStar Group news, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 1,749 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.90, for a total transaction of $139,745.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,456 shares in the company, valued at $2,353,534.40. The trade was a 5.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CSGP. StockNews.com downgraded CoStar Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup cut their price objective on CoStar Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on CoStar Group from $99.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of CoStar Group in a report on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of CoStar Group from $100.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.54.

CoStar Group Profile

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.