Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms Sector Perform Rating for CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Royal Bank of Canada restated their sector perform rating on shares of CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $83.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on CoStar Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of CoStar Group from $100.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of CoStar Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.15.

CoStar Group Stock Up 5.0 %

CSGP stock opened at $79.21 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $73.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.34. The company has a market capitalization of $32.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 180.03 and a beta of 0.87. CoStar Group has a 52 week low of $68.26 and a 52 week high of $100.38. The company has a current ratio of 9.63, a quick ratio of 9.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The firm had revenue of $709.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $703.00 million. CoStar Group had a return on equity of 3.53% and a net margin of 6.57%. On average, analysts forecast that CoStar Group will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CoStar Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at CoStar Group

In other CoStar Group news, insider Michael J. Desmarais sold 5,500 shares of CoStar Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.88, for a total transaction of $439,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 58,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,696,784.24. This trade represents a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CoStar Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CSGP. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in CoStar Group in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 534.8% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 419 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in CoStar Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in CoStar Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CoStar Group by 414.4% in the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 499 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. 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.