Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) Stock Price

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from $46.00 to $39.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Piper Sandler‘s target price points to a potential upside of 24.78% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on ZG. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Zillow Group from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup decreased their price target on Zillow Group from $68.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Zillow Group in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Zillow Group from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Zillow Group in a report on Monday, August 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.95.

Zillow Group Stock Down 9.3%

ZG stock traded down $3.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $31.25. The company had a trading volume of 680,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,162,028. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $31.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.87. Zillow Group has a 12 month low of $27.25 and a 12 month high of $74.80. The stock has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.05, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.95.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $724.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $753.66 million. Zillow Group had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 1.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Zillow Group will post 0.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Zillow Group

In other news, CEO Jeremy Wacksman sold 9,339 shares of Zillow Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total transaction of $319,207.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 138,574 shares in the company, valued at $4,736,459.32. The trade was a 6.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Jeremy Hofmann sold 5,661 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total transaction of $193,492.98. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,021,541.92. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,539 shares of company stock valued at $1,323,800. Insiders own 29.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zillow Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Technology Crossover Management XI Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Zillow Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $73,694,895. Kahn Brothers Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Zillow Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,265,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Zillow Group by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 554,460 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $22,947,000 after purchasing an additional 85,367 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Zillow Group by 724.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 406,398 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,257,000 after purchasing an additional 357,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Zillow Group by 106.6% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 176,052 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,287,000 after purchasing an additional 90,858 shares during the period. 20.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zillow Group News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue rose 7% year over year, with rentals helping cushion weakness in home sales. WSJ article
• Neutral Sentiment: Citizens JMP lowered its price target to $40 from $46 but maintained a “market outperform” rating, implying substantial upside from the cited reference price. Citizens JMP recommendations
• Negative Sentiment: Zillow missed third-quarter earnings and revenue expectations: EPS was $0.55 versus $0.60 expected, and revenue was $724 million versus about $754 million expected. Zacks earnings report
• Negative Sentiment: Housing activity weakened sharply in October: newly pending listings fell 16.8% year over year, while Zillow’s preliminary measure of existing-home sales declined 8.7%. This could weigh on transaction-related business. Zillow October market report
• Negative Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald cut its price target to $26 from $32 and assigned a “neutral” rating, signaling downside in its outlook. Cantor Fitzgerald recommendations

About Zillow Group

Zillow Group, Inc is a digital real estate company that operates online marketplaces and technology platforms for consumers, real estate professionals, and other housing industry participants. Its services are designed to help people search for homes, understand property values, connect with agents, and manage transactions throughout the residential real estate process.

The company’s portfolio includes Zillow, Trulia, StreetEasy, HotPads, and ShowingTime+. Zillow provides home listings, estimated property values, rental information, agent connections, mortgage resources, and other housing-related tools.