Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Stock Price Up 4% – Still a Buy?

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) rose 4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $36.47 and last traded at $36.52. Approximately 236,083 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 416,663 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CRTO shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Criteo from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Criteo from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Criteo from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Criteo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 target price (up previously from $59.00) on shares of Criteo in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Criteo has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.90.

Criteo Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 21.95 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.03.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. Criteo had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 16.37%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Criteo S.A. will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Criteo

In related news, insider Brian Gleason sold 3,135 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.95, for a total transaction of $115,838.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 139,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,139,190.75. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Megan Clarken sold 7,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.51, for a total transaction of $332,979.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 502,052 shares in the company, valued at $22,346,334.52. This represents a 1.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 26,363 shares of company stock worth $1,124,213. Company insiders own 1.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Criteo

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC lifted 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 during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Criteo by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,796,975 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $150,208,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052,126 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd grew its stake in shares of Criteo by 41,776.0% during the 4th quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 994,555 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $39,348,000 after purchasing an additional 992,180 shares during the period. Senvest Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Criteo by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 3,639,479 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $143,978,000 after purchasing an additional 743,695 shares during the period. Finally, Cadian Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Criteo by 38.2% in the 4th quarter. Cadian Capital Management LP now owns 2,584,333 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $102,236,000 after purchasing an additional 713,785 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.