Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New $1.81 Million Investment in Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:IAS)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired 225,000 shares of Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. valued at approximately $1.814 million in the first quarter, increasing its ownership to 0.14% of the company.
• Integral Ad Science reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $134.07 million against an estimate of $129.20 million.
• Several brokerages have raised their price targets for Integral Ad Science, with Barclays setting a new target of $9.00 and Raymond James increasing their target to $13.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:IAS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 225,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,814,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.14% of Integral Ad Science at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of IAS. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Integral Ad Science by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,519 shares of the company's stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Integral Ad Science by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,807 shares of the company's stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 2,188 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Integral Ad Science by 547.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,313 shares of the company's stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 2,801 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Integral Ad Science by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 207,600 shares of the company's stock worth $2,167,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Integral Ad Science by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,997 shares of the company's stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 4,099 shares in the last quarter. 95.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on IAS shares. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Integral Ad Science from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Integral Ad Science from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Integral Ad Science from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Integral Ad Science from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Integral Ad Science from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.65.

Integral Ad Science Stock Down 1.9%

IAS stock traded down $0.16 during trading on Thursday, hitting $7.91. 762,962 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,020,951. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.56. The company has a quick ratio of 4.01, a current ratio of 4.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.29, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.57. Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. has a 1 year low of $6.26 and a 1 year high of $13.62.

Integral Ad Science (NASDAQ:IAS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $134.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $129.20 million. Integral Ad Science had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 4.74%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. will post 0.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Lisa Utzschneider sold 8,285 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.29, for a total transaction of $68,682.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 371,031 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,075,846.99. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,151 shares of company stock valued at $209,075. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Integral Ad Science

Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. operates as a digital advertising verification company in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Australia, Japan, India, and the Nordics. The company provides IAS Signal, a cloud-based technology platform that offers return on ad spend needs; and deliver independent measurement and verification of digital advertising across devices, channels, and formats, including desktop, mobile, connected TV, social, display, and video.