Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) saw a large increase in short interest in 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 trading volume of 461,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.9 days. Approximately 5.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Criteo

In related news, CFO Sarah Js Glickman sold 1,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.36, for a total transaction of $61,347.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 311,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,587,396.08. This trade represents a 0.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Megan Clarken sold 13,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.56, for a total value of $602,129.88. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 42,845 shares of company stock valued at $1,795,516 in the last 90 days. 1.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Criteo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new stake in Criteo in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Criteo during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,840 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Palumbo Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Criteo during the 4th quarter valued at about $208,000. 94.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Criteo Trading Up 1.8 %

Criteo stock traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.52. The stock had a trading volume of 507,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 463,777. Criteo has a 12 month low of $30.76 and a 12 month high of $49.93. The company has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.50 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.51.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 16.37% and a net margin of 5.08%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Criteo will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Criteo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Criteo from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 target price (up from $59.00) on shares of Criteo in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Criteo from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Criteo from $50.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.