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

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. 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 trading hands.

The information services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. Criteo had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 15.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CRTO. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Criteo from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Criteo from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Criteo from $50.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $61.00 price target (up previously from $59.00) on shares of Criteo in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Criteo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Criteo currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Criteo

In other news, insider Ryan Damon sold 2,793 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total value of $118,814.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 115,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,919,580.84. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Megan Clarken sold 9,284 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.36, for a total transaction of $374,702.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 509,145 shares in the company, valued at $20,549,092.20. This represents a 1.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,541 shares of company stock valued at $860,406. Company insiders own 1.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Criteo

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRTO. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Criteo by 230.1% in the 3rd quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 2,519,864 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $101,399,000 after buying an additional 1,756,507 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in Criteo in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,653,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in Criteo by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,853,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $74,567,000 after purchasing an additional 547,718 shares in the last quarter. Senvest Management LLC boosted its stake in Criteo by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 2,895,784 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $116,526,000 after purchasing an additional 475,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Criteo in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,676,000. 94.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Criteo Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.15 and its 200 day moving average is $41.60. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.22 and a beta of 1.05.

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.