Integral Ad Science (NASDAQ:IAS) Upgraded to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

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 investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

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

Integral Ad Science Stock Performance

NASDAQ IAS traded down $0.08 on Friday, hitting $8.95. The stock had a trading volume of 249,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,030,935. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $8.26 and a 200-day moving average of $8.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.57. Integral Ad Science has a 52-week low of $6.26 and a 52-week 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that Integral Ad Science will post 0.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Lisa Utzschneider sold 14,904 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.31, for a total transaction of $123,852.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 379,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,152,115.96. This trade represents a 3.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 35,073 shares of company stock valued at $289,641 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Integral Ad Science by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 30,000 shares of the company's stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Sunriver Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Integral Ad Science by 8.0% in the second quarter. Sunriver Management LLC now owns 8,822,914 shares of the company's stock worth $73,318,000 after purchasing an additional 656,140 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Integral Ad Science by 32.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 132,129 shares of the company's stock worth $1,098,000 after purchasing an additional 32,197 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Integral Ad Science by 377.6% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 97,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 76,858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in Integral Ad Science by 31.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 59,458 shares of the company's stock worth $494,000 after acquiring an additional 14,134 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.78% of the company's stock.

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.