Investors Purchase Large Volume of Criteo Call Options (NASDAQ:CRTO)

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 20,004 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 6,681% compared to the typical daily volume of 295 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRTO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Criteo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Criteo from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Criteo from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Criteo from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Criteo from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.11.

Criteo Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Criteo stock opened at $35.61 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.68. The company has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.01 and a beta of 0.95. Criteo has a 12-month low of $22.10 and a 12-month high of $36.75.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The information services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $316.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.35 million. Criteo had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 10.42%. Analysts predict that Criteo will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Megan Clarken sold 5,485 shares of Criteo stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $191,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 552,933 shares in the company, valued at $19,352,655. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Sarah Js Glickman sold 9,653 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.69, for a total transaction of $315,556.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 293,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,578,791.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Megan Clarken sold 5,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $191,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 552,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,352,655. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 88,607 shares of company stock valued at $2,932,315. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Criteo

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRTO. Citigroup Inc. bought a new position in Criteo during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Criteo during the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Criteo during the 4th quarter valued at about $119,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Criteo by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Criteo by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 11,350 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.