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

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) had its price target dropped by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $65.00 to $63.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 16.53% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on CSGP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on CoStar Group from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of CoStar Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of CoStar Group from $100.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.08.

CoStar Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSGP opened at $75.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 9.63 and a quick ratio of 9.63. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.34. CoStar Group has a 12 month low of $68.26 and a 12 month high of $100.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 171.54 and a beta of 0.87.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. CoStar Group had a net margin of 6.57% and a return on equity of 3.53%. Analysts expect that CoStar Group will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

CoStar Group declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael J. Desmarais sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.88, for a total transaction of $439,340.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,696,784.24. The trade was a 8.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CoStar Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CSGP. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in CoStar Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in CoStar Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in CoStar Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CoStar Group by 414.4% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 499 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. 96.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.