Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on Z. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Zillow Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Zillow Group from $84.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Zelman & Associates upgraded Zillow Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays upgraded Zillow Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Zillow Group in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.75.

Zillow Group Stock Down 1.9%

Z opened at $43.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.48 billion, a PE ratio of 174.72, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 2.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.70 and a 200-day moving average of $58.72. Zillow Group has a 52 week low of $39.05 and a 52 week high of $93.88.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $708.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $705.10 million. Zillow Group had a return on equity of 1.37% and a net margin of 2.27%. Equities analysts anticipate that Zillow Group will post 0.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Zillow Group

In related news, CTO David A. Beitel sold 3,966 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.22, for a total transaction of $175,376.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 136,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,044,431.80. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeremy Wacksman sold 13,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.25, for a total value of $604,499.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 116,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,147,248.50. This trade represents a 10.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 60,801 shares of company stock worth $2,683,986 over the last quarter. 25.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in Z. Jain Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zillow Group in the 3rd quarter worth $6,220,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Zillow Group in the 3rd quarter worth $2,919,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 63.1% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 85,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,565,000 after purchasing an additional 32,975 shares in the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Zillow Group in the 3rd quarter worth $18,141,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,073,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,777,841,000 after purchasing an additional 71,336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Zillow Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zillow posted a profitable Q1 (reported $46M net income) with revenue roughly in line to slightly above consensus and an EPS beat, highlighting strength in Rentals and mortgage origination growth — a near-term fundamental positive. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: The company emphasized AI-driven product expansion (new AI tools for agents, property managers and consumers) and cited revenue gains in a flat housing market, underscoring its pivot to higher?value workflow tools that could lift long?term monetization. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zillow gave Q2 revenue guidance of roughly $750M–$765M, which sits close to but slightly below some analyst models; that cautious outlook has tempered enthusiasm despite the Q1 beat. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Monthly site traffic fell (~3% to ~220M average monthly uniques), raising concerns about user engagement and future ad/search monetization. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts trimmed targets after the report: JPMorgan cut its target (still an overweight rating) and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered theirs — mixed analyst moves increase short?term volatility. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms (Rosen, Pomerantz) have announced investigations into possible securities claims, creating legal overhang and downside risk for investors. Read More.

Zillow Group Company 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.