Cerity Partners LLC Buys 27,049 Shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP - Free Report) by 185.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 41,602 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 27,049 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in CoStar Group were worth $3,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in CoStar Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of CoStar Group during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of CoStar Group during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in CoStar Group by 414.4% in the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 499 shares of the technology company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CSGP. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on CoStar Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 note on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on 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 lowered their target price on CoStar Group from $100.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Craig Hallum started coverage on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.54.

CoStar Group Stock Performance

CSGP traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $79.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,033,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,747,212. The company has a quick ratio of 9.63, a current ratio of 8.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $32.69 billion, a PE ratio of 227.71 and a beta of 0.88. CoStar Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.26 and a 1 year high of $93.94. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $77.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.92.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22. CoStar Group had a net margin of 5.07% and a return on equity of 3.11%. The firm had revenue of $709.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $703.00 million. Equities analysts anticipate that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

CoStar Group declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 buy up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 1,749 shares of the business'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 transaction 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. The trade was a 5.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company's stock.

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.