Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Shares of The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $122.23, but opened at $85.10. Trade Desk shares last traded at $83.42, with a volume of 13,708,679 shares.

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 return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 13.34%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TTD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Trade Desk from $125.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Trade Desk from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Trade Desk from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut Trade Desk from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 30th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “sell” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Trade Desk in a report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Trade Desk has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jay R. Grant sold 18,524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.35, for a total transaction of $2,210,839.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 169,464 shares in the company, valued at $20,225,528.40. The trade was a 9.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Samantha Jacobson sold 4,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.56, for a total transaction of $509,570.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 90,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,754,459.04. The trade was a 4.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,029 shares of company stock valued at $5,004,296. 9.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Trade Desk during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Trade Desk by 68.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 287 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Trade Desk in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Trade Desk during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in shares of Trade Desk by 148.3% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 293 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.77% of the company’s stock.

Trade Desk Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $41.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 136.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $123.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.54.

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.