Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) Shares Climb 7.8% – What’s Next?

Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z) was up 7.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $33.48 and last traded at $33.74. Approximately 1,385,614 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 4,190,213 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on Z. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Zillow Group from $60.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Evercore downgraded shares of Zillow Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Zillow Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Zillow Group from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Zillow Group in a research note on Friday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.71.

Zillow Group Stock Up 8.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 154.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 2.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.75.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.07. Zillow Group had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 2.32%. The company had revenue of $772.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $758.10 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Zillow Group, Inc. will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Dan Spaulding sold 3,169 shares of Zillow Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.37, for a total value of $112,087.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,576,122.57. The trade was a 6.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Erik Blachford sold 792 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.71, for a total transaction of $28,282.32. Following the transaction, the director owned 34,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,219,853.60. This trade represents a 2.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 38,539 shares of company stock valued at $1,323,800 in the last 90 days. 25.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zillow Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of Z. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Zillow Group during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Zillow Group by 97.0% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 469,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,729,000 after acquiring an additional 231,002 shares during the last quarter. NFSG Corp bought a new stake in shares of Zillow Group during the third quarter worth $98,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 9.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 331,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,001,000 after acquiring an additional 27,832 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zillow Group during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Zillow Group Company Profile

Zillow Group, Inc (NASDAQ: Z) operates a digital real estate marketplace in the United States. Its platforms help consumers search for homes, research neighborhoods and market conditions, connect with real estate professionals, and manage various steps in the home-buying, selling, renting and financing processes.

The company’s portfolio includes Zillow, Trulia, StreetEasy and HotPads, which provide property listings and real estate information. Zillow Group also offers services for real estate professionals, including marketing, lead generation, transaction management and showing coordination through products such as Zillow Premier Agent and ShowingTime+.

Through Zillow Home Loans and other affiliated services, the company provides or facilitates mortgage and closing-related solutions.