Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Invests $2.92 Million in Zillow Group, Inc. $Z

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 37,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,919,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Zillow Group by 21.7% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 20,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,407,000 after acquiring an additional 3,653 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Zillow Group by 25.1% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 46.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Zillow Group by 19.2% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho cut Zillow Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Zillow Group from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Zillow Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Zillow Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Zillow Group in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zillow Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zillow Group

In related news, CEO Jeremy Wacksman sold 10,855 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $759,741.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,428,492.88. This represents a 7.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jeremy Hofmann sold 7,865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.53, for a total transaction of $546,853.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 70,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,923,488.83. The trade was a 10.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 67,511 shares of company stock valued at $4,766,357. Insiders own 25.03% of the company’s stock.

Zillow Group Price Performance

Zillow Group stock opened at $68.00 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.08. Zillow Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.51 and a 12 month high of $93.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.46 billion, a PE ratio of -485.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 2.07.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $729.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $670.28 million. Zillow Group had a negative net margin of 1.29% and a negative return on equity of 0.56%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Zillow Group, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Zillow Group Profile

Zillow Group, Inc is an online real estate marketplace company that operates a portfolio of consumer-facing websites and mobile apps designed to connect buyers, sellers, renters, homeowners and real estate professionals. The company’s platforms aggregate property listings, rental listings, and related information to help users search for homes, estimate property values and connect with agents and service providers. Zillow generates revenue primarily through advertising and lead-generation services for real estate professionals, property managers and mortgage lenders.

Key products and services include the Zillow and Trulia consumer websites and apps, which provide searchable listings, photos, neighborhood data and the company’s automated home valuation tool known as the “Zestimate.” Zillow also offers a rentals marketplace, a mortgage marketplace and tools for home buying and selling such as Zillow Premier Agent for agent advertising and leads, as well as ancillary services designed to support transactions, including closing and title-related offerings.