Weitz Investment Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Weitz Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 889,875 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,375 shares during the period. CoStar Group comprises 3.3% of Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Weitz Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of CoStar Group worth $63,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in CoStar Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $393,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CoStar Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,475,755 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $819,678,000 after acquiring an additional 166,769 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,952 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,237,117 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $160,155,000 after acquiring an additional 14,984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in CoStar Group by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 18,176 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644 shares in the last quarter. 96.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CoStar Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSGP opened at $79.18 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.79. The company has a current ratio of 8.96, a quick ratio of 9.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CoStar Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.26 and a twelve month high of $95.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 226.23 and a beta of 0.93.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. CoStar Group had a return on equity of 3.11% and a net margin of 5.07%. The company had revenue of $709.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $703.00 million. As a group, equities research 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 repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits 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 stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CSGP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $89.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on CoStar Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on CoStar Group from $99.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CoStar Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 1,749 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.90, for a total value of $139,745.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,353,534.40. This represents a 5.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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.