QRG Capital Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Zillow Group, Inc. $Z

QRG Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z) by 66.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,860 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Zillow Group were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in Z. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Zillow Group by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Zillow Group by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 20,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,407,000 after buying an additional 3,653 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Zillow Group by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,616,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Zillow Group by 186.3% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 1,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Zillow Group by 1,895.4% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 128,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,992,000 after acquiring an additional 121,929 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Zillow Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Zillow Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zillow launched Zillow Pro membership, a new offering that brings consumer insights directly to agents and could strengthen engagement and monetization of its platform over time. Zillow brings its consumer insights directly to agents with Zillow Pro membership
• Neutral Sentiment: Several firms, including Rosen, Faruqi & Faruqi, Schall, Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, BFA Law, Kahn Swick & Foti, Pomerantz, and Bronstein Gewirtz & Grossman, issued reminders about the August 10 lead-plaintiff deadline in the securities class action. These notices keep the lawsuit in focus but do not add new operational information.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors were also pointed to a head-to-head article comparing Zillow with Viewtran Group, which is not a material company update.
• Neutral Sentiment: Another commentary piece noted Zillow’s profitability versus Opendoor’s losses, but this was analytical coverage rather than fresh company news.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeremy Wacksman sold 9,072 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.54, for a total transaction of $331,490.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 153,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,616,161.46. This represents a 5.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Jeremy Hofmann sold 5,501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.40, for a total value of $205,737.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 68,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,554,981. This represents a 7.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 42,910 shares of company stock valued at $1,605,732 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 25.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Z has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Zillow Group from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Zillow Group from $95.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings cut Zillow Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded Zillow Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Zillow Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Zillow Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Zillow Group Stock Down 3.7%

NASDAQ Z traded down $1.25 on Friday, reaching $32.19. The company had a trading volume of 2,596,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,130,060. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.37 billion, a PE ratio of 128.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.46. Zillow Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.23 and a 12 month high of $93.88.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $708.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $705.10 million. Zillow Group had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 1.41%. On average, research analysts expect that Zillow Group, Inc. will post 0.9 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.