CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) Shares Sold by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) by 13.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,727 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,489 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in CoStar Group were worth $771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in CoStar Group by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 3,836 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CoStar Group by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 61,350 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,041 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 76.9% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 33,851 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,423,000 after purchasing an additional 14,714 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in CoStar Group by 117.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,577 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 13,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in CoStar Group by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,430 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 859 shares in the last quarter. 96.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CoStar Group Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of CSGP opened at $96.25 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $81.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.66. CoStar Group, Inc. has a one year low of $68.26 and a one year high of $97.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 5.83 and a current ratio of 5.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 385.00, a PEG ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.89.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $781.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $772.06 million. CoStar Group had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 2.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CSGP shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CoStar Group from $87.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stephens upgraded CoStar Group to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on CoStar Group from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on CoStar Group from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Frederick G. Saint sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.23, for a total value of $2,330,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 319,539 shares in the company, valued at $29,790,620.97. This represents a 7.26% 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. Also, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 2,033 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.85, for a total value of $188,764.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 25,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,837.35. This represents a 7.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.