Ion Asset Management Ltd. Acquires New Stake in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Ion Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 146,970 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,522,000. CoStar Group accounts for about 0.6% of Ion Asset Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in CoStar Group by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,950 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in CoStar Group by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 7,786 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in CoStar Group by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,207 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. FWG Holdings LLC grew its position in CoStar Group by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. FWG Holdings LLC now owns 6,431 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in CoStar Group by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. 96.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CoStar Group Trading Down 1.3 %

CoStar Group stock opened at $81.74 on Tuesday. CoStar Group, Inc. has a one year low of $68.26 and a one year high of $93.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $78.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.21. The company has a market capitalization of $33.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 233.54 and a beta of 0.88. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. CoStar Group had a return on equity of 3.11% and a net margin of 5.07%. The firm had revenue of $709.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $703.00 million. On average, analysts forecast that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CoStar Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CSGP. Piper Sandler began coverage on CoStar Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price objective on shares of CoStar Group in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of CoStar Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of CoStar Group from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Two 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $139,745.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,353,534.40. This represents a 5.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

CoStar Group Company 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.