Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $38.40, but opened at $46.50. Criteo shares last traded at $45.79, with a volume of 178,004 shares.

The information services provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Criteo had a return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 4.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on CRTO shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Criteo from $66.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. 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. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Criteo from $58.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Criteo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Criteo in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Criteo currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Criteo

In other news, CEO Megan Clarken sold 9,284 shares of Criteo stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.36, for a total value of $374,702.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 509,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,549,092.20. The trade was a 1.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ryan Damon sold 2,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.36, for a total transaction of $116,438.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 118,334 shares in the company, valued at $4,775,960.24. This represents a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,541 shares of company stock valued at $860,406 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Criteo

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Criteo during the second quarter worth approximately $1,327,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Criteo by 17.7% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 13,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Criteo by 117.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,607 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Criteo in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Criteo by 99.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,689 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840 shares in the last quarter. 94.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Criteo Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.54. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of 31.15 and a beta of 1.05.

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.