Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZG) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after JMP Securities lowered their price target on the stock from $68.00 to $62.00. The stock had previously closed at $41.44, but opened at $39.79. JMP Securities currently has a market outperform rating on the stock. Zillow Group shares last traded at $38.48, with a volume of 438,155 shares traded.

ZG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Zillow Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Craig Hallum lowered their price objective on Zillow Group from $65.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Zillow Group from $36.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Zillow Group in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Zillow Group from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.00.

Insider Activity at Zillow Group

In related news, General Counsel Bradley D. Owens sold 966 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.01, for a total transaction of $56,037.66. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 17,181 shares in the company, valued at $996,669.81. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Amy Bohutinsky sold 93,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.69, for a total value of $5,314,687.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $320,411.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Bradley D. Owens sold 966 shares of Zillow Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.01, for a total value of $56,037.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 17,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,669.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 171,289 shares of company stock worth $9,642,508. 17.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Zillow Group by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,054,673 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $456,861,000 after buying an additional 1,730,731 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Zillow Group during the 4th quarter valued at $102,096,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in Zillow Group by 50.5% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 946,571 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,397,000 after acquiring an additional 317,683 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in Zillow Group by 73.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 420,170 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,832,000 after acquiring an additional 177,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Zillow Group by 1.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 180,407 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,634,000 after purchasing an additional 2,999 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.32% of the company’s stock.

Zillow Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of -57.38 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a quick ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $47.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.61.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The technology company reported ($0.27) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.06. Zillow Group had a negative return on equity of 2.32% and a negative net margin of 8.12%. The company had revenue of $474.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $450.75 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Zillow Group, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

About Zillow Group

Zillow Group, Inc operates real estate brands in mobile applications and Websites in the United States. The company offers premier agent and rentals marketplaces, new construction marketplaces, advertising, display advertising, and business technology solutions, as well as dotloop and floor plans. It also provides mortgage originations and the sale of mortgages, and advertising to mortgage lenders and other mortgage professionals; and title and escrow services.