Bridgewater Associates LP Raises Position in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its holdings in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP - Free Report) by 108.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 879,915 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 456,842 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP owned approximately 0.21% of CoStar Group worth $62,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CSGP. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CoStar Group during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in CoStar Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of CoStar Group in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. 96.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CoStar Group Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CoStar Group stock traded up $0.68 on Friday, reaching $79.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,033,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,747,212. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.69 billion, a P/E 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 has a quick ratio of 9.63, a current ratio of 8.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $77.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.92.

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

CoStar Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on CSGP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of CoStar Group from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $103.00 price target on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on CoStar Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Citigroup cut their target price on CoStar Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of CoStar Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.54.

Insider Transactions at CoStar Group

In other news, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 1,749 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,456 shares in the company, valued at $2,353,534.40. This represents a 5.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company's stock.

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.