Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 5,508 Shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its stake in shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 408,638 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,508 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.10% of CoStar Group worth $29,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CSGP. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in CoStar Group by 101.1% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 14,553 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after purchasing an additional 7,317 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in CoStar Group by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,359 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $706,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in CoStar Group by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 53,737 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,054,000 after buying an additional 19,668 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new stake in CoStar Group in the 3rd quarter worth $3,601,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of CoStar Group by 652.7% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 22,521 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,699,000 after acquiring an additional 19,529 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.60% of the company’s stock.

CoStar Group Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ CSGP opened at $79.18 on Wednesday. CoStar Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.26 and a 12 month high of $95.71. The company has a current ratio of 8.96, a quick ratio of 9.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $77.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.79. The stock has a market cap of $32.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 226.23 and a beta of 0.93.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The company had revenue of $709.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $703.00 million. CoStar Group had a net margin of 5.07% and a return on equity of 3.11%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CoStar Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 1,749 shares of CoStar Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.90, for a total value of $139,745.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,353,534.40. This trade represents a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of CoStar Group in a report on Friday, February 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $89.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler began coverage on CoStar Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of CoStar Group from $99.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CoStar Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.