Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Grows Stake in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) by 206.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,488 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,161 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in CoStar Group were worth $1,610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 534.8% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 419 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of CoStar Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of CoStar Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 17,100.0% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 516 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CoStar Group during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. 96.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CoStar Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSGP opened at $77.81 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.59. The company has a quick ratio of 9.63, a current ratio of 8.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CoStar Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.26 and a 12-month high of $100.38. The company has a market cap of $31.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 222.31 and a beta of 0.87.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. CoStar Group had a net margin of 5.07% and a return on equity of 3.11%. The business had revenue of $709.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $703.00 million. Equities analysts expect that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CoStar Group declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSGP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on CoStar Group from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on CoStar Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on CoStar Group from $100.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded CoStar Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CoStar Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.07.

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.