Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) Shares Up 7.6% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZG) rose 7.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $34.61 and last traded at $34.8730. Approximately 235,123 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 1,149,934 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ZG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Zillow Group from $76.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Zillow Group from $50.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $80.00 price target on shares of Zillow Group in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Zillow Group in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Zillow Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Zillow Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.19.

Zillow Group Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 159.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 2.02.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $772.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $758.25 million. Zillow Group had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 2.32%. Zillow Group’s revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Zillow Group, Inc. will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Zillow Group

In other Zillow Group news, Director Erik Blachford sold 792 shares of Zillow Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.71, for a total transaction of $28,282.32. Following the sale, the director owned 34,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,219,853.60. The trade was a 2.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Dan Spaulding sold 3,169 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.37, for a total value of $112,087.53. Following the transaction, the insider owned 44,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,576,122.57. This trade represents a 6.64% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 38,539 shares of company stock worth $1,323,800 over the last quarter. Insiders own 29.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Zillow Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 9,287 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,753 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Zillow Group in the third quarter worth approximately $214,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in Zillow Group by 21.2% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 8,779 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Zillow Group by 724.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 406,398 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,257,000 after purchasing an additional 357,104 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Zillow Group in the third quarter worth approximately $548,000. 20.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Zillow Group Company Profile

Zillow Group, Inc is a digital real estate company that operates online marketplaces and technology platforms for consumers, real estate professionals, and other housing industry participants. Its services are designed to help people search for homes, understand property values, connect with agents, and manage transactions throughout the residential real estate process.

The company’s portfolio includes Zillow, Trulia, StreetEasy, HotPads, and ShowingTime+. Zillow provides home listings, estimated property values, rental information, agent connections, mortgage resources, and other housing-related tools.