Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. 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.

The information services provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Criteo from $50.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Criteo from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Criteo from $66.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised Criteo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Criteo in a report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Criteo currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.33.

Insider Activity at Criteo

In other Criteo news, CFO Sarah Js Glickman sold 1,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.36, for a total value of $61,347.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 311,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,587,396.08. This represents a 0.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Damon sold 2,793 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total transaction of $118,814.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 115,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,919,580.84. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,541 shares of company stock valued at $860,406. 1.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Criteo

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRTO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Criteo by 80.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 48,395 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,947,000 after buying an additional 21,509 shares in the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Criteo during the third quarter valued at about $1,405,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Criteo by 263.5% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 20,786 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $836,000 after buying an additional 15,067 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Criteo by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 337,880 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,596,000 after buying an additional 80,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in Criteo by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 1,787 shares during the period. 94.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Criteo Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.73 and a beta of 1.05.

About Criteo

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.