BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Stock

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets has increased Criteo's (NASDAQ:CRTO) price target from $49.00 to $51.00, signaling a potential upside of 122.03% from the previous close.
• Despite the optimistic outlook from BMO, other analysts have lowered their price targets, with benchmark ratings ranging from a sell to outperform, leading to a consensus target price of $42.90.
• Criteo reported quarterly earnings of $0.92 EPS, exceeding expectations, with a revenue increase of 2.5% year-over-year to $292 million.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $49.00 to $51.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the information services provider's stock. BMO Capital Markets' price objective indicates a potential upside of 117.02% from the company's previous close.

CRTO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Criteo from $57.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Criteo from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Criteo from $54.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Criteo from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Criteo from $50.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.50.

Criteo Trading Down 3.5%

NASDAQ:CRTO traded down $0.84 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $23.50. 683,103 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 470,459. Criteo has a 1 year low of $22.43 and a 1 year high of $49.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.43. The business's 50-day moving average price is $24.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.39.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The information services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $292.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.62 million. Criteo had a net margin of 7.10% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Criteo will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Criteo news, CFO Sarah Js Glickman sold 2,465 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $63,621.65. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 362,710 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,361,545.10. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Damon sold 2,132 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $55,026.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 132,002 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,406,971.62. This trade represents a 1.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,708 shares of company stock valued at $320,444. Company insiders own 1.66% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Criteo

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Criteo by 21.4% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Criteo by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 38,594 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $925,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Criteo by 5.9% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 12,070 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Criteo by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,520 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in shares of Criteo during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. 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.