Stephens Upgrades CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) to Strong-Buy

CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) was upgraded by Stephens to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $105.00 target price on the technology company’s stock. Stephens’ price target suggests a potential upside of 31.43% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on CSGP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of CoStar Group from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on CoStar Group from $99.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of CoStar Group in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on CoStar Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $89.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on CoStar Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CoStar Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.69.

CoStar Group Price Performance

CSGP opened at $79.89 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $33.70 billion, a PE ratio of 275.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $77.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.35. CoStar Group has a 1 year low of $68.26 and a 1 year high of $83.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 6.01 and a quick ratio of 6.01.

CoStar Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CoStar Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CSGP. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in CoStar Group by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,275 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CoStar Group by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in CoStar Group by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,827 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in CoStar Group by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,950 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CoStar Group by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 28,900 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,211,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.60% of the company’s stock.

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.