Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates "Sector Perform" Rating for CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their sector perform rating on shares of CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP - Free Report) in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $83.00 target price on the technology company's stock.

CSGP has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of CoStar Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of CoStar Group from $100.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of CoStar Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of CoStar Group from $108.00 to $99.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, CoStar Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.00.

CoStar Group Stock Performance

Shares of CSGP stock traded down $1.54 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $76.79. 4,666,987 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,815,564. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 219.40 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 9.63 and a current ratio of 8.96. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $73.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.39. CoStar Group has a 52 week low of $68.26 and a 52 week high of $100.38.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $703.00 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CoStar Group will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

CoStar Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at CoStar Group

In other CoStar Group news, insider Michael J. Desmarais sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.88, for a total value of $439,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,696,784.24. This trade represents a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CoStar Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in CoStar Group by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,935,559 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $210,157,000 after purchasing an additional 128,540 shares during the last quarter. Baer Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CoStar Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,756,000. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of CoStar Group by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 235,397 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $16,852,000 after buying an additional 91,822 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of CoStar Group by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 44,462 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,183,000 after buying an additional 1,879 shares during the period. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of CoStar Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,562,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.60% 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.