Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Trading 4% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) rose 4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $36.47 and last traded at $36.52. Approximately 236,083 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 416,663 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective (up from $59.00) on shares of Criteo in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Criteo from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Criteo from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Criteo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Criteo from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.90.

Criteo Stock Up 1.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 21.95 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $39.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.03.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Criteo had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 16.37%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Criteo S.A. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Criteo news, insider Brian Gleason sold 3,135 shares of Criteo stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.95, for a total transaction of $115,838.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 139,085 shares in the company, valued at $5,139,190.75. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Megan Clarken sold 7,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.51, for a total transaction of $332,979.31. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 502,052 shares in the company, valued at $22,346,334.52. This trade represents a 1.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,363 shares of company stock valued at $1,124,213. 1.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Criteo

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in shares of Criteo in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in Criteo by 53.2% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,192 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Criteo in the 4th quarter valued at about $208,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Criteo during the fourth quarter worth about $210,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Criteo during the fourth quarter worth about $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.27% of the company’s stock.

About Criteo

Criteo SA, a technology company, provides marketing and monetization services on the open Internet in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company's Criteo Shopper Graph, which derives clients' proprietary commerce data, such as transaction activity on their digital properties.