Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes $1.81 Million Position 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 shares of Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:IAS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Integral Ad Science by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 44,921 shares of the company's stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 4,123 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Integral Ad Science by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,048,546 shares of the company's stock worth $94,467,000 after acquiring an additional 205,562 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Integral Ad Science during the 4th quarter worth $807,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Integral Ad Science by 42.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 155,010 shares of the company's stock worth $1,618,000 after acquiring an additional 46,395 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Integral Ad Science by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 677,204 shares of the company's stock worth $7,070,000 after acquiring an additional 67,038 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.78% of the company's stock.

Integral Ad Science Trading Down 0.7%

IAS stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $8.05. 787,175 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 756,382. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $8.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 4.01 and a current ratio of 4.01. The company has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 27.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.57. Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. has a one year low of $6.26 and a one year high of $13.62.

Integral Ad Science (NASDAQ:IAS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $134.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $129.20 million. Integral Ad Science had a return on equity of 4.74% and a net margin of 8.56%. Research analysts predict that Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. will post 0.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Lisa Utzschneider sold 8,285 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.29, for a total value of $68,682.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 371,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,846.99. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 33,518 shares of company stock worth $270,739 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Integral Ad Science from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Integral Ad Science from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Integral Ad Science from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Integral Ad Science from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Integral Ad Science from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $13.65.

Integral Ad Science Company Profile

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.