Parnassus Investments LLC Lowers Stock Position in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

Parnassus Investments LLC cut its position in shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) by 94.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,009 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 218,660 shares during the quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in CoStar Group were worth $860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 84,811 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,092,000 after buying an additional 4,300 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of CoStar Group by 410.2% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 40,007 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,864,000 after acquiring an additional 32,165 shares during the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in CoStar Group during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in CoStar Group by 77.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 850 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in CoStar Group by 723.3% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,717 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,387 shares during the period. 96.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CSGP. 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 research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair started coverage on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on CoStar Group from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.07.

CoStar Group Price Performance

CoStar Group stock opened at $78.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 8.96 and a quick ratio of 9.63. CoStar Group, Inc. has a one year low of $68.26 and a one year high of $100.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 224.94 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $75.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.68.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. CoStar Group had a return on equity of 3.11% and a net margin of 5.07%. The business had revenue of $709.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at CoStar Group

In related news, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 1,749 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $2,353,534.40. This trade represents a 5.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.