Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Shares Gap Up to $35.61

Shares of Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $35.61, but opened at $37.00. Criteo shares last traded at $36.18, with a volume of 62,254 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on CRTO. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Criteo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com raised Criteo from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Criteo from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Criteo from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Criteo from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.11.

Criteo Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 41.08 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $34.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.78.

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

Insider Transactions at Criteo

In related news, CEO Megan Clarken sold 23,331 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total transaction of $770,856.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 383,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,682,668.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Megan Clarken sold 23,331 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total transaction of $770,856.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 383,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,682,668.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sarah Js Glickman sold 9,653 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.69, for a total value of $315,556.57. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 293,019 shares in the company, valued at $9,578,791.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 88,607 shares of company stock valued at $2,932,315 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Criteo

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRTO. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Criteo by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 10,528 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Criteo in the 3rd quarter valued at $15,306,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Criteo in the 3rd quarter worth $683,000. VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Criteo by 83.4% during the 3rd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 81,525 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,381,000 after acquiring an additional 37,074 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in Criteo during the 3rd quarter valued at about $394,000. 94.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.