CoStar Group Inc. CEO Andy Florance netted nearly $20.5 million from selling stock in his D.C.-based commercial real estate data company across a two-day period last week, according to a federal filing.
It's the second straight quarter Florance has shed more than $20 million in CoStar (NASDAQ: CSGP) stock, following his sale of nearly $20.9 million worth of shares in February as the company's Apartments.com division was ramping up its marketing campaign featuring Jeff Goldblum as Brad Bellflower.
Related Content
Get ready for lots more Jeff Goldblum as CoStar amps up its marketing
CoStar acquiring divisions of Ten-X for $190M
Cushman & Wakefield CEO cautions CoStar over Ten-X acquisition
Sell shares in this market? That's what the head of CoStar just did.
CoStar acquires apartment marketing firm in Ch. 11 process
Then as now, a company spokesperson said it is normal course for company executives to exercise their stock options as they expire after a decade and that it is a common practice across all industry sectors.
This time, Florance sold 31,168 shares in the company, all of which vested March 5 and were acquired at $193.69 apiece, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The sales, whose prices ranged from $842.01 to $858.62 per share on Wednesday and Thursday, come as CoStar posted $60 million in net revenue for the second quarter, down about $3 million for the same period in 2019. The company saw its revenue increase by about 16%, from $344 million for the second quarter of 2019 to $397 million, and completed its $190 million acquisition of divisions of online auction site Ten-X.
In addition to Florance, in early August, CFO Scott Wheeler sold roughly 12,000 shares at $826.71 each, netting $7.7 million, according to SEC filings. Wheeler also gifted 36 shares each to three trusts tied to his two sons and a daughter. Matthew Linnington, executive vice president of sales for CoStar, also sold 2,419 shares Aug. 12 at a price of $826.32 apiece, netting just shy of $2 million, per SEC documents.
CoStar has seen its share price soar 38% just since the beginning of this year after seeing significant rises last year as well. The stock closed trading Monday at $848.60 per share.
Following the most recent sales, Florance still holds about 107,121 shares of CoStar stock.