Royal Bank of Canada Sells 60,326 Shares of Zillow Group, Inc. $ZG

Royal Bank of Canada lessened its holdings in Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZG) by 57.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,076 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 60,326 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Zillow Group were worth $1,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ZG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Zillow Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $152,050,000. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its position in Zillow Group by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 2,024,556 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $138,135,000 after purchasing an additional 21,862 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Zillow Group by 38,344.0% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,604,270 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $120,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600,097 shares during the period. Tiger Global Management LLC grew its stake in Zillow Group by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC now owns 1,023,733 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $69,849,000 after purchasing an additional 240,690 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Zillow Group by 44.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,018,448 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $69,489,000 after purchasing an additional 313,643 shares during the last quarter. 20.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zillow Group News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: U.S. asking rents rose to $1,962 in July, increasing 2.3% from a year earlier—the fastest growth in more than a year. Strong rental demand could support Zillow’s traffic, advertising activity and rental-related revenue. Rents near $2,000, rising at the fastest pace in over a year
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Jeremy Wacksman, CFO Jeremy Hofmann, CAO Jennifer Rock, CTO David Beitel and other insiders sold shares worth roughly $1.5 million in aggregate. The transactions were made under pre-arranged trading plans or to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards, making them a relatively weak signal of deteriorating management confidence. Zillow Group insider filings
• Negative Sentiment: Rental concessions increased to 39.8% of Zillow listings in July from 35.9% a year earlier. Although rent growth remains positive, the higher use of concessions suggests landlords still face competitive pressure, which could temper the benefit to Zillow’s rental marketplace.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts have recently lowered several price targets, including Wells Fargo’s reduction to $35 and Canaccord Genuity’s reduction to $40. Zillow Group’s consensus rating remains “Hold,” despite its latest quarterly earnings beat of $0.52 per share versus the $0.44 estimate. Zillow Group analyst and stock information

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ZG shares. Barclays lowered their target price on Zillow Group from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Zillow Group from $50.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Zillow Group from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Zillow Group from $68.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Zillow Group in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.29.

Zillow Group Stock Up 2.8%

NASDAQ ZG opened at $35.28 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of 160.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.95. Zillow Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.03 and a 52 week high of $90.22. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.80.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Zillow Group news, insider Errol G. Samuelson sold 3,154 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.24, for a total transaction of $107,992.96. Following the sale, the insider owned 130,885 shares in the company, valued at $4,481,502.40. This represents a 2.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO David A. Beitel sold 1,798 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.24, for a total value of $61,563.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 133,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,554,365.12. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 46,423 shares of company stock worth $1,612,148 in the last 90 days. 29.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Zillow Group Company Profile

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) is a U.S.-based online real estate marketplace that connects consumers, real estate professionals and mortgage lenders through a suite of digital products and advertising services. Founded in 2006 by Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company operates a portfolio of consumer-facing brands and tools designed to simplify home search, rental discovery, valuation and mortgage shopping.

Zillow’s core products include its consumer websites and mobile apps that list homes for sale and rent, the Zestimate automated home value estimate, and marketplaces that connect buyers and renters with agents and lenders.