Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $32.67 and last traded at $32.99, with a volume of 163457 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRTO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 target price (up previously from $59.00) on shares of Criteo in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Criteo from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Criteo in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Criteo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Criteo from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.90.

Criteo Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.89 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.43.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Criteo had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 16.37%. Sell-side analysts expect that Criteo S.A. will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Criteo news, insider Brian Gleason sold 1,924 shares of Criteo stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.08, for a total value of $73,265.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 137,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,090.88. The trade was a 1.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Megan Clarken sold 13,823 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.56, for a total transaction of $602,129.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 488,229 shares in the company, valued at $21,267,255.24. This represents a 2.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,363 shares of company stock valued at $1,124,213. 1.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Criteo

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in Criteo in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Criteo by 53.2% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,192 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Criteo during the fourth quarter worth about $208,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Criteo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $210,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in Criteo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.27% of the company’s stock.

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.