Benchmark Reiterates Buy Rating for Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO)

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at Benchmark in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $51.00 price objective on the information services provider’s stock. Benchmark’s price target indicates a potential upside of 12.91% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Criteo from $58.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Criteo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Criteo from $50.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Criteo from $66.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Criteo has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.33.

Criteo Stock Up 17.6 %

CRTO stock opened at $45.17 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.73 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.57. Criteo has a 12 month low of $25.93 and a 12 month high of $49.93.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Criteo will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Megan Clarken sold 9,284 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.36, for a total transaction of $374,702.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 509,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,549,092.20. This represents a 1.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Damon sold 2,885 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.36, for a total transaction of $116,438.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 118,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,775,960.24. This represents a 2.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,541 shares of company stock valued at $860,406. 1.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Senvest Management LLC boosted its position in Criteo by 19.6% in the third quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 2,895,784 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $116,526,000 after buying an additional 475,530 shares in the last quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Criteo by 230.1% during the 3rd quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 2,519,864 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $101,399,000 after buying an additional 1,756,507 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in Criteo by 42.0% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,853,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $74,567,000 after acquiring an additional 547,718 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in Criteo in the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,653,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Criteo by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 437,419 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,602,000 after purchasing an additional 103,593 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.27% of the company’s stock.

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.