CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) Earns Market Outperform Rating from JMP Securities

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating reiterated by equities researchers at JMP Securities in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $85.00 target price on the technology company’s stock. JMP Securities’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.00% from the company’s previous close.

CSGP has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on CoStar Group from $99.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup lowered their price target on CoStar Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Craig Hallum began coverage on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. William Blair initiated coverage on CoStar Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price objective on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CoStar Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.31.

CoStar Group Stock Performance

Shares of CSGP opened at $76.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 218.80 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 9.63 and a current ratio of 8.96. CoStar Group has a 1 year low of $68.26 and a 1 year high of $92.74. The company’s fifty day moving average is $78.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.24.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The firm had revenue of $709.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $703.00 million. CoStar Group had a net margin of 5.07% and a return on equity of 3.11%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CoStar Group will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

CoStar Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at CoStar Group

In other CoStar Group news, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 1,749 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.90, for a total transaction of $139,745.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,353,534.40. This trade represents a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CoStar Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CSGP. Bamco Inc. NY increased its stake in CoStar Group by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 19,203,564 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,374,783,000 after purchasing an additional 418,128 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in CoStar Group by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,032,363 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,004,578,000 after acquiring an additional 4,345,267 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in CoStar Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,475,755 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $819,678,000 after acquiring an additional 166,769 shares during the last quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in CoStar Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 9,313,880 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $666,781,000 after acquiring an additional 379,787 shares during the period. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CoStar Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $465,134,000. 96.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CoStar Group

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.