The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) Short Interest Update

The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,640,000 shares, an increase of 32.8% from the January 31st total of 10,270,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,880,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Trade Desk Price Performance

Shares of TTD traded down $2.09 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $65.51. 5,560,337 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,818,915. The company has a market capitalization of $32.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.93, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.45. Trade Desk has a twelve month low of $64.56 and a twelve month high of $141.53. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $107.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.00.

Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.21). Trade Desk had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 16.38%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Trade Desk will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Trade Desk declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $564.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Citizens Jmp upgraded Trade Desk to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Trade Desk from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Trade Desk from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price target (down from $140.00) on shares of Trade Desk in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Trade Desk in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Terry Green sold 18,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.44, for a total transaction of $2,283,886.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 704,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,338,485.76. This trade represents a 2.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Samantha Jacobson sold 4,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.56, for a total transaction of $509,570.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 90,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,754,459.04. This represents a 4.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,029 shares of company stock valued at $5,004,296. Insiders own 9.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Trade Desk

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Trade Desk by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,670,254 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,015,035,000 after buying an additional 253,137 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in Trade Desk by 4.7% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 38,716,074 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,245,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,650 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Trade Desk by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 20,320,769 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,228,172,000 after buying an additional 2,013,047 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC raised its position in Trade Desk by 133.3% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 9,934,156 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,089,280,000 after acquiring an additional 5,675,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Trade Desk by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,916,932 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $930,477,000 after purchasing an additional 198,822 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.77% of the company’s stock.

About Trade Desk

The Trade Desk, Inc operates as a technology company in the United States and internationally. The company offers a self-service cloud-based platform that allows buyers to plan, manage, optimize, and measure data-driven digital advertising campaigns across various ad formats and channels, including video, display, audio, digital-out-of-home, native, and social on various devices, such as computers, mobile devices, televisions, and streaming devices.