Short Interest in Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) Rises By 7.5%

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,740,000 shares, an increase of 7.5% from the January 15th total of 2,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 461,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.9 days. Approximately 5.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Criteo Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:CRTO traded up $0.80 on Tuesday, reaching $44.52. 507,999 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 463,777. The company has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50 and a beta of 1.05. Criteo has a 12 month low of $30.76 and a 12 month high of $49.93. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.51.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Criteo will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Criteo

In other news, insider Ryan Damon sold 2,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.36, for a total value of $116,438.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,775,960.24. This trade represents a 2.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Megan Clarken sold 13,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.56, for a total transaction of $602,129.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 488,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,267,255.24. This represents a 2.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,845 shares of company stock valued at $1,795,516. Company insiders own 1.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Criteo

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRTO. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in shares of Criteo during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Criteo during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Criteo by 99.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,689 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,840 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Palumbo Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Criteo during the 4th quarter valued at about $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRTO has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $61.00 price target (up from $59.00) on shares of Criteo in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Criteo from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Criteo from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Criteo from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Criteo from $50.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.90.

Criteo Company Profile

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.