CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE) Short Interest Up 8.6% in October

CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,220,000 shares, an increase of 8.6% from the October 15th total of 6,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CBRE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on CBRE Group from $93.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on CBRE Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 11th. Raymond James lowered their price target on CBRE Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $98.00 price target on shares of CBRE Group in a report on Monday, September 18th. Finally, TheStreet lowered CBRE Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CBRE Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.33.

Insider Transactions at CBRE Group

In other news, CFO Emma E. Giamartino sold 1,064 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.53, for a total value of $81,427.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,685 shares in the company, valued at $4,108,513.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Emma E. Giamartino sold 1,064 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.53, for a total value of $81,427.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,685 shares in the company, valued at $4,108,513.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brandon B. Boze sold 1,200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.41, for a total value of $101,292,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,637,748 shares in the company, valued at $391,472,308.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CBRE Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of CBRE Group by 98,156.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 220,922,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,830,686,000 after acquiring an additional 220,698,040 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P raised its holdings in CBRE Group by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 15,321,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,131,677,000 after acquiring an additional 586,661 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in CBRE Group by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,465,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $699,157,000 after acquiring an additional 288,287 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in CBRE Group by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,189,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $522,405,000 after acquiring an additional 148,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in CBRE Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,083,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $523,208,000 after acquiring an additional 28,316 shares during the last quarter. 96.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CBRE Group Stock Performance

CBRE traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,845,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,693,761. CBRE Group has a 52-week low of $64.63 and a 52-week high of $89.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $73.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.23. The company has a market capitalization of $23.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.79 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19.

CBRE Group (NYSE:CBRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.07. CBRE Group had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 1.89%. The company had revenue of $7.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that CBRE Group will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CBRE Group Company Profile

CBRE Group, Inc operates as a commercial real estate services and investment company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Advisory Services, Global Workplace Solutions, and Real Estate Investments segments. The Advisory Services segment provides strategic advice and execution to owners, investors, and occupiers of real estate in connection with leasing of offices; industrial and retail space; property sales and mortgage services under the CBRE Capital Markets brand; property and project management services, including construction management, marketing, building engineering, lease administration, accounting, and financial services for owners of and investors in office, industrial, and retail properties; and valuation services that include market value appraisals, litigation support, discounted cash flow analyses, and feasibility studies, as well as consulting services, such as property condition reports, hotel advisory, and environmental consulting.