Wall Street Zen Upgrades Integral Ad Science (NASDAQ:IAS) to Buy

Key Points

• Integral Ad Science (NASDAQ:IAS) was upgraded to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen after previously holding a "hold" rating.
• Several analysts offered varying price targets, with Morgan Stanley reducing their target from $13.50 to $12.50 and Stifel Nicolaus increasing it from $13.00 to $14.00, reflecting mixed sentiments about the stock's performance.
• The company reported earnings per share of $0.07 for the most recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.04, showcasing positive revenue growth of $149.20 million.

Integral Ad Science (NASDAQ:IAS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Integral Ad Science from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Integral Ad Science from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of Integral Ad Science from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Integral Ad Science from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $13.55.

Integral Ad Science Price Performance

NASDAQ:IAS traded up $0.06 on Friday, reaching $8.95. The stock had a trading volume of 513,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,032,807. The company has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.57. The firm's fifty day moving average is $8.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.51. Integral Ad Science has a 12-month low of $6.26 and a 12-month high of $13.62.

Integral Ad Science (NASDAQ:IAS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $149.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $143.02 million. Integral Ad Science had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 5.00%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Integral Ad Science will post 0.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Integral Ad Science news, CEO Lisa Utzschneider sold 9,922 shares of Integral Ad Science stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.12, for a total value of $80,566.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 380,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,090,122.84. The trade was a 2.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,073 shares of company stock valued at $289,641. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Integral Ad Science

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of Integral Ad Science during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Integral Ad Science in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Integral Ad Science in the 4th quarter valued at $61,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Integral Ad Science by 1,248.1% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,019 shares of the company's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 8,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Integral Ad Science in the first quarter worth $87,000. 95.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.