Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Trading Up 4% – Time to Buy?

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO)’s stock price shot up 4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $36.47 and last traded at $36.52. 236,083 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 416,663 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on CRTO. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 price target (up from $59.00) on shares of Criteo in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Criteo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Criteo from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Criteo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Criteo from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.90.

Criteo Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.13.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that Criteo S.A. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian Gleason sold 3,135 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.95, for a total value of $115,838.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 139,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,139,190.75. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Megan Clarken sold 7,481 shares of Criteo stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.51, for a total transaction of $332,979.31. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 502,052 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,346,334.52. This represents a 1.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,363 shares of company stock worth $1,124,213. Corporate insiders own 1.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Criteo

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in Criteo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position 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 worth $166,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Criteo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $208,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Criteo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $210,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in Criteo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,000. 94.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.