Integral Ad Science (NASDAQ:IAS) Trading 12.4% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Integral Ad Science's stock increased by 12.4% after Barclays raised its price target from $9.00 to $10.00, while maintaining an equal weight rating on the stock.
• Despite the upgrade, the stock has seen a significant drop in trading volume, with 522,243 shares traded, down 49% from the average daily volume.
• A mix of analysts have given varied ratings, with the consensus price target now at $13.75 and a majority rating the stock as a hold.

Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:IAS - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 12.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $9.00 to $10.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Integral Ad Science traded as high as $8.94 and last traded at $8.95. Approximately 522,243 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 1,019,336 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.96.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen cut Integral Ad Science from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Integral Ad Science from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.75.

Insider Transactions at Integral Ad Science

In other Integral Ad Science news, CEO Lisa Utzschneider sold 14,904 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.31, for a total value of $123,852.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 379,316 shares of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,151 shares of company stock worth $209,075. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IAS. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,801 shares during the period. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Integral Ad Science during the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Integral Ad Science during the first quarter worth about $42,000. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Integral Ad Science in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Integral Ad Science by 1,248.1% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,019 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 8,350 shares in the last quarter. 95.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Integral Ad Science Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.01 and a quick ratio of 4.01.

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.