Ashford Capital Management Inc. Trims Holdings in CoStar Group, Inc. $CSGP

Ashford Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) by 58.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 102,490 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 145,469 shares during the quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in CoStar Group were worth $4,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSGP. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in CoStar Group by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 683,061 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,929,000 after purchasing an additional 28,279 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 83.4% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,321,700 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $156,111,000 after buying an additional 1,055,584 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CoStar Group by 100.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 245,184 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,486,000 after buying an additional 122,776 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of CoStar Group by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 210,095 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,127,000 after buying an additional 38,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in shares of CoStar Group by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 12,933,185 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $869,627,000 after buying an additional 4,691,543 shares during the period. 96.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CoStar Group Stock Performance

Shares of CSGP stock opened at $29.17 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $30.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20. CoStar Group, Inc. has a one year low of $26.68 and a one year high of $97.43. The firm has a market cap of $11.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 486.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.74.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The technology company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.05. CoStar Group had a net margin of 0.74% and a return on equity of 2.90%. The firm had revenue of $897.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $896.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.04) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Benchmark started coverage on CoStar Group in a report on Thursday, June 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $34.00 target price on CoStar Group and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Citigroup decreased their price target on CoStar Group from $100.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Stephens lowered their price target on CoStar Group from $50.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of CoStar Group in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CoStar Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Andrew C. Florance purchased 71,430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $35.20 per share, for a total transaction of $2,514,336.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,722,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,644,848. This trade represents a 4.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CoStar Group Company Profile

CoStar Group, Inc is a provider of information, analytics and online marketplaces for the commercial real estate industry. The company gathers property-level data, builds market analytics and supplies research tools used by brokers, owners, lenders, investors and other real estate professionals to evaluate markets, track inventory and manage listings. CoStar’s offerings are delivered primarily through subscription-based platforms that combine proprietary databases, mapping and workflow applications to support decision-making across the property life cycle.

In addition to its core CoStar research service, the company operates prominent online listing and marketing platforms that connect buyers, sellers, tenants and brokers.