Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Shares Up 6.6% – Still a Buy?

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO)’s share price traded up 6.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $17.73 and last traded at $17.7060. 471,162 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 11% from the average daily volume of 422,904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRTO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Criteo from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Criteo from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Criteo from $25.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Criteo from $25.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Huber Research downgraded shares of Criteo from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.85.

Criteo Stock Down 1.8%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $15.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $848.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 0.35.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The information services provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $416.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.18 million. Criteo had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 3.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Criteo S.A. will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael Komasinski sold 1,656 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.28, for a total transaction of $28,615.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,942,436.48. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 2,855 shares of company stock valued at $48,898 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Criteo

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Criteo by 15.8% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 54,023 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $988,000 after acquiring an additional 7,352 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Criteo during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Criteo by 61.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,465 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Criteo by 357.9% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 3,225 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Criteo by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,769,644 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,774,000 after purchasing an additional 77,145 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.27% of the company’s stock.

About Criteo

Criteo is a global commerce media company that provides advertising technology to brands, retailers and media owners. Its platform uses commerce data and artificial intelligence to help businesses plan, deliver and measure digital advertising across websites, apps and other channels. Criteo’s offerings include Performance Media solutions for advertisers and Retail Media services that help retailers build and manage advertising programs. The company also works with publishers and other media owners to connect advertising demand with relevant audiences.