Short Interest in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) Rises By 47.7%

CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,920,000 shares, a growth of 47.7% from the October 15th total of 8,070,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.7 days.

CoStar Group Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of CSGP traded down $0.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $75.04. 2,696,953 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,379,063. CoStar Group has a 1-year low of $68.26 and a 1-year high of $100.38. The company has a quick ratio of 9.63, a current ratio of 9.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $30.76 billion, a PE ratio of 172.21 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day moving average of $75.99 and a 200 day moving average of $77.68.

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. CoStar Group had a net margin of 6.57% and a return on equity of 3.53%. The firm had revenue of $692.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $695.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that CoStar Group will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CSGP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of CoStar Group from $108.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of CoStar Group from $107.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of CoStar Group from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $96.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of CoStar Group from $78.00 to $75.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Andrew C. Florance acquired 14,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $74.67 per share, for a total transaction of $1,099,963.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,263,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,315,527.66. The trade was a 1.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael R. Klein sold 71,633 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $5,350,268.77. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,913,501 shares in the company, valued at $142,919,389.69. This trade represents a 3.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CoStar Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in CoStar Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in CoStar Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,223,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in CoStar Group by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 477,691 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,145,000 after purchasing an additional 23,987 shares in the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in CoStar Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $802,000. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in CoStar Group by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 40,525 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,005,000 after purchasing an additional 9,618 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.60% of the company’s stock.

CoStar Group Company Profile

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.