PubMatic (NASDAQ:PUBM) Trading 5.4% Higher – What’s Next?

PubMatic, Inc. (NASDAQ:PUBM)’s stock price shot up 5.4% on Friday . The company traded as high as $17.33 and last traded at $17.24. Approximately 94,051 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 684,954 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PUBM. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of PubMatic from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Scotiabank raised shares of PubMatic from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $8.00 to $21.00 in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised PubMatic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on PubMatic from $12.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of PubMatic in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.25.

PubMatic Stock Up 5.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of $784.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -57.43 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $14.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.90.

PubMatic (NASDAQ:PUBM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.15. The company had revenue of $78.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.95 million. PubMatic had a negative return on equity of 5.41% and a negative net margin of 4.66%. As a group, analysts expect that PubMatic, Inc. will post -0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at PubMatic

In other PubMatic news, General Counsel Andrew Woods sold 38,331 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.96, for a total transaction of $688,424.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 39,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $714,107.56. This trade represents a 49.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Steven Pantelick sold 19,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.31, for a total transaction of $341,283.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,353 shares in the company, valued at $179,210.43. This trade represents a 65.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 627,453 shares of company stock worth $9,638,866 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 27.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PubMatic

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PUBM. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of PubMatic in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of PubMatic by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,915 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of PubMatic by 264.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 3,541 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in PubMatic by 246.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 5,022 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in PubMatic in the first quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 64.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About PubMatic

PubMatic is a cloud-based digital advertising technology company that provides a supply-side platform (SSP) enabling publishers to automate and optimize the sale of their ad inventory across display, mobile, video and connected TV channels. Its core offerings include real-time bidding infrastructure, header bidding solutions under the OpenWrap brand and data analytics tools that deliver actionable insights on audience engagement and monetization performance. By facilitating seamless auctions and providing transparent reporting, PubMatic helps publishers maximize yield while improving buyer experiences.

Founded in 2006 by Rajeev Goel and a team of ad-tech veterans, PubMatic grew from an early entrant in programmatic selling to a publicly traded company, listing on the Nasdaq (symbol: PUBM) in December 2020.