MetLife Investment Management LLC Increases Position in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP)

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,433 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CoStar Group were worth $7,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in CoStar Group during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in CoStar Group by 534.8% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 419 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in CoStar Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in CoStar Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CoStar Group by 414.4% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 499 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. 96.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CSGP. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on CoStar Group in a report on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on shares of CoStar Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of CoStar Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $89.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of CoStar Group in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.54.

CoStar Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSGP opened at $77.81 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.96. The company has a market capitalization of $31.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 222.31 and a beta of 0.88. CoStar Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.26 and a 1-year high of $93.94. 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 (NASDAQ:CSGP) last announced its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations of $703.00 million. Sell-side analysts expect that CoStar Group, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CoStar Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Cynthia Cammett Cann sold 1,749 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 29,456 shares in the company, valued at $2,353,534.40. This represents a 5.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

CoStar Group 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.