Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) Lowered to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Zillow Group from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Zillow Group from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Zillow Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Zillow Group from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Zillow Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.00.

Zillow Group Stock Performance

Z opened at $35.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 140.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.38. Zillow Group has a one year low of $34.37 and a one year 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 firm had revenue of $708.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $705.10 million. Zillow Group had a return on equity of 1.41% and a net margin of 2.27%. As a group, analysts predict that Zillow Group will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Zillow Group

In related news, General Counsel Bradley D. Owens sold 3,364 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.23, for a total value of $125,241.72. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 65,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,429,071.35. The trade was a 4.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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. Also, insider Dan Spaulding sold 3,078 shares of the business’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 $115,117.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 49,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,630.40. The trade was a 5.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 have sold 42,119 shares of company stock valued at $1,578,206 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 25.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Zillow Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of Z. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Zillow Group by 4.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Zillow Group by 21.7% during the first 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. lifted its holdings in Zillow Group by 1.6% during the second 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 during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Zillow Group by 186.3% during the second 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 during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted 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 worth $8,992,000 after buying an additional 121,929 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

About Zillow Group

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.