Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) Stock Gets Price Target Reduction from Morgan Stanley

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) had its target price lowered by Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $35.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Z has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Zillow Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Zillow Group from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Zillow Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Zillow Group in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Evercore cut shares of Zillow Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Zillow Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.71.

Zillow Group Stock Up 11.0%

Zillow Group stock opened at $31.46 on Tuesday. Zillow Group has a 52 week low of $26.67 and a 52 week high of $79.40. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.02. The stock has a market cap of $7.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 2.04.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $772.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $758.10 million. Zillow Group had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 1.96%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Zillow Group will post 0.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeremy Wacksman sold 9,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total transaction of $319,207.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 138,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,736,459.32. This represents a 6.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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, CTO David Beitel sold 1,798 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 value of $61,563.52. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 133,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,554,365.12. The trade was a 1.33% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,539 shares of company stock worth $1,323,800. 25.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zillow Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of Z. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its stake in Zillow Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 10,953,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $747,241,000 after buying an additional 94,569 shares in the last quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC raised its holdings in Zillow Group by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC now owns 7,368,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $304,927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312,000 shares during the period. Contour Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Zillow Group by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 3,260,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $222,430,000 after acquiring an additional 747,808 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Zillow Group by 21.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,896,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,461,000 after acquiring an additional 338,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Zillow Group by 455.6% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 641,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,550,000 after acquiring an additional 526,142 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Zillow Group Company Profile

Zillow Group, Inc is a technology company that operates digital real estate marketplaces and related services in the United States. Its platforms help consumers search for homes to buy or rent, research neighborhoods and property values, connect with real estate professionals, and manage aspects of the transaction process.

The company’s portfolio includes Zillow, Trulia, StreetEasy and HotPads, along with services such as Zillow Premier Agent, Zillow Rentals, ShowingTime+ and Zillow Home Loans.