Dan Spaulding Sells 1,966 Shares of Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) Stock

Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZG) insider Dan Spaulding sold 1,966 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.24, for a total value of $67,315.84. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 47,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,634,275.20. This trade represents a 3.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Dan Spaulding also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, August 14th, Dan Spaulding sold 3,169 shares of Zillow Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.37, for a total value of $112,087.53.

Zillow Group Price Performance

Shares of ZG stock opened at $35.28 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.80. Zillow Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.03 and a 1-year high of $90.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of 160.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.95.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.08. Zillow Group had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 1.96%.The firm had revenue of $772.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $758.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. Zillow Group’s revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Zillow Group, Inc. will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting Zillow Group

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zillow Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZG. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Zillow Group by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,890 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $862,000 after acquiring an additional 3,717 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 110.8% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 290,999 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,456,000 after purchasing an additional 152,955 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 7.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 87,912 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,878,000 after purchasing an additional 5,737 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Zillow Group by 5.8% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,093 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,445,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Zillow Group by 16.3% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 7,933 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. 20.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on ZG shares. Evercore set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Zillow Group and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of Zillow Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citizens Jmp reduced their price target on shares of Zillow Group from $75.00 to $46.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Zillow Group from $52.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Zillow Group from $53.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zillow Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.29.

About Zillow Group

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.