DnB Asset Management AS Grows Stake in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

DnB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) by 57.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 165,959 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 60,782 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in CoStar Group were worth $11,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Polen Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in CoStar Group in the fourth quarter worth about $465,134,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CoStar Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $390,755,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of CoStar Group by 91.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,249,188 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $169,678,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,793 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in CoStar Group by 73.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,358,331 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $177,913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001,177 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in CoStar Group by 4.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,059,744 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,286,987,000 after purchasing an additional 722,153 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 1,749 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,353,534.40. This trade represents a 5.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CoStar Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSGP opened at $79.31 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $76.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.81. CoStar Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.26 and a 52-week high of $96.98. The company has a market cap of $32.53 billion, a PE ratio of 226.60 and a beta of 0.93. 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 (NASDAQ:CSGP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The company had revenue of $709.40 million for 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 3.11%. As a group, analysts anticipate that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

CoStar Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 reacquire up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CSGP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of 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 reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Monday, December 16th. William Blair started coverage on CoStar Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on CoStar Group in a report on Friday, February 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.07.

CoStar Group 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.