Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $22.29, but opened at $21.24. Trade Desk shares last traded at $21.4480, with a volume of 3,661,815 shares trading hands.

Trending Headlines about Trade Desk

Here are the key news stories impacting Trade Desk this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on The Trade Desk with a sell rating and an $11 price target, implying significant downside from recent trading levels. Benzinga
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted The Trade Desk’s decline from being a $69 billion digital-ad leader, reinforcing investor concerns that growth is slowing and the market is resetting expectations. The Trade Desk’s Fall From $69 Billion Digital-Ad Darling
• Negative Sentiment: A separate report said TTD faces a “new reality” and cited an analyst warning of as much as 50% downside risk, adding to bearish sentiment around the stock. TTD stock faces ‘new reality’ as analyst warns of 50% downside risk
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also announced board compensation changes for new non-employee director Samanth, but this appears to be a routine governance update with limited immediate impact on the stock. Trade Desk Aligns Compensation for New Non-Employee Director

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Trade Desk from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. William Blair downgraded shares of Trade Desk from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $20.00 price target on shares of Trade Desk and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Trade Desk from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $35.00 price objective on Trade Desk and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.91.

Trade Desk Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $22.25 and its 200-day moving average is $29.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.10.

Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.24). Trade Desk had a net margin of 14.57% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The firm had revenue of $688.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $678.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Trade Desk will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Trade Desk declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 25th that allows the company to repurchase $350.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Trade Desk

In other Trade Desk news, Director Kathryn E. Falberg sold 102,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total value of $3,131,112.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,255.70. This trade represents a 98.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Trade Desk by 2,382.8% in the 4th quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 720 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Trade Desk during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Trade Desk by 219.4% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,319 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Trade Desk by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 898 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Trade Desk in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.77% of the company’s stock.

About Trade Desk

The Trade Desk, Inc (NASDAQ: TTD) is a technology company that provides a demand-side platform (DSP) for programmatic digital advertising. Its platform enables advertisers, agencies and other buyers to plan, purchase and measure ad inventory across digital channels, including display, video, mobile, audio, native and connected TV. By centralizing real?time bidding, audience targeting and inventory access, the company aims to help clients optimize media spend and reach audiences at scale across publishers and ad exchanges.

Founded in 2009 by Jeff Green and Dave Pickles, The Trade Desk grew from a focus on programmatic display into a global ad?tech provider.