Weiss Asset Management LP Buys New Position in Zillow Group, Inc. $Z

Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 42,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,743,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of Z. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in Zillow Group by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 739,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,433,000 after purchasing an additional 75,682 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Zillow Group by 17,458.4% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 73,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,043,000 after purchasing an additional 73,500 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 411,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,052,000 after buying an additional 178,118 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 153,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,444,000 after buying an additional 33,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 212.7% during the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 111,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,572,000 after buying an additional 75,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Zillow Group

In related news, insider Errol G. Samuelson sold 2,939 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.97, for a total value of $111,593.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 134,039 shares in the company, valued at $5,089,460.83. The trade was a 2.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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. Also, General Counsel Bradley D. Owens sold 3,364 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.23, for a total transaction of $125,241.72. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 65,245 shares in the company, valued at $2,429,071.35. This trade represents a 4.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 sold 42,910 shares of company stock valued at $1,605,732 in the last 90 days. 23.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Zillow Group Stock Performance

Shares of Z opened at $30.76 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $33.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.75. The company has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.98. Zillow Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.23 and a fifty-two week high of $93.88.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.10. Zillow Group had a return on equity of 1.41% and a net margin of 2.27%.The business had revenue of $708.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $705.10 million. Analysts forecast that Zillow Group, Inc. will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Z has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Zillow Group from $50.00 to $37.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Zillow Group from $95.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Zillow Group from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Zillow Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Zillow Group from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.38.

Key Stories Impacting Zillow Group

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

• Negative Sentiment: Zillow faces renewed legal overhang after Bleichmar Fonti & Auld said a class action was filed over alleged securities fraud linked to its anticompetitive agreement, adding pressure from potential regulatory and litigation risks. Article: Zillow Sued for Fraud Over Misrepresentations about its Anticompetitive Agreement
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms, including ClaimsFiler, Kahn Swick & Foti, Rosen, Faruqi & Faruqi, and Pomerantz, issued investor alerts urging shareholders who bought Zillow shares during the class period to seek counsel or pursue lead-plaintiff status, keeping the litigation story in focus. Article: Zillow Shareholder Alert: ClaimsFiler Reminds Investors…
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful change, so it does not appear to be a driver of the stock move.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zillow’s rent report noted U.S. asking rents rose 2.2% year over year in June, while concessions remained elevated; this is informative for the housing backdrop but not a direct catalyst for the shares. Article: Rent is ticking up, but so are the deals

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.