CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) Downgraded to "Sell" Rating by StockNews.com

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

CSGP has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of CoStar Group from $78.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of CoStar Group in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of CoStar Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CoStar Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $92.92.

CoStar Group Stock Up 5.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CSGP traded up $3.61 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.22. The company had a trading volume of 3,786,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,628,151. The company has a current ratio of 9.63, a quick ratio of 9.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.36. The company has a market capitalization of $30.02 billion, a PE ratio of 166.41 and a beta of 0.85. CoStar Group has a one year low of $68.26 and a one year high of $100.38.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $692.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $695.91 million. CoStar Group had a net margin of 6.57% and a return on equity of 3.53%. The firm's revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that CoStar Group will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at CoStar Group

In related news, insider Michael J. Desmarais sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.88, for a total transaction of $439,340.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 58,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,696,784.24. This trade represents a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Andrew C. Florance acquired 14,731 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $74.67 per share, with a total value of $1,099,963.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,263,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $94,315,527.66. This represents a 1.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of CoStar Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CSGP. Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CoStar Group by 54.9% in the fourth quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 23,662 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,694,000 after acquiring an additional 8,387 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its position in CoStar Group by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 5,439 shares of the technology company's stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in CoStar Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in CoStar Group by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 43,077 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,084,000 after buying an additional 12,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 48,345 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,461,000 after buying an additional 3,184 shares during the last quarter. 96.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.