Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) Stock Price

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $65.00 to $63.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential downside of 19.59% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on CSGP. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of CoStar Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of CoStar Group from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of CoStar Group from $100.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of CoStar Group from $78.00 to $75.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.00.

CoStar Group Price Performance

CSGP opened at $78.35 on Wednesday. CoStar Group has a 1 year low of $68.26 and a 1 year high of $100.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 9.63 and a current ratio of 9.63. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.12 billion, a PE ratio of 223.84 and a beta of 0.87.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The company 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 3.13%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CoStar Group will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

CoStar Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at CoStar Group

In other CoStar Group news, insider Michael J. Desmarais sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $4,696,784.24. This trade represents a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CoStar Group

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