Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Shares Cross Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Criteo shares fell below their 200-day moving average, trading as low as $16.57 and last changing hands at $16.70 versus the $18.52 moving average.
• Analyst sentiment has weakened, with several firms cutting ratings and price targets. The stock carries a consensus “Hold” rating and an average target price of $22.65.
• Criteo beat quarterly earnings expectations with $0.80 EPS versus $0.71 expected, but revenue declined 11.3% year over year. Institutional investors own a substantial 94.27% of the company, while recent insider sales were attributed to tax withholding on vested equity awards.

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $18.52 and traded as low as $16.57. Criteo shares last traded at $16.70, with a volume of 338,653 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on CRTO shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Criteo from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $20.50 in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Huber Research lowered shares of Criteo from an "overweight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Criteo from $29.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of Criteo from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Criteo from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.65.

Criteo Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $818.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.48 and a beta of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.52.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The information services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.09. Criteo had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 5.60%.The business had revenue of $428.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Criteo S.A. will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ryan Damon sold 6,178 shares of Criteo stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.23, for a total value of $106,446.94. Following the sale, the insider owned 167,765 shares in the company, valued at $2,890,590.95. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Sarah Glickman sold 6,285 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.23, for a total transaction of $108,290.55. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 424,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,316,064.76. This represents a 1.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,725 shares of company stock worth $529,527. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Criteo

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRTO. Senvest Management LLC increased its stake in Criteo by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 4,597,322 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $82,430,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Criteo by 4.6% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,769,644 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $31,774,000 after acquiring an additional 77,145 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Criteo by 10.7% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 975,109 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,484,000 after acquiring an additional 94,389 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Criteo by 216.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 241,538 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,978,000 after acquiring an additional 165,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Criteo by 47.2% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 246,026 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,411,000 after acquiring an additional 78,834 shares during the last quarter. 94.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Criteo

Criteo SA is a global commerce media and advertising technology company headquartered in Paris, France. The company helps brands, retailers and agencies engage consumers throughout the shopping journey by using data, artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver personalized advertising and commerce experiences.

Its offerings include retail media solutions that allow retailers and marketplaces to monetize digital audiences, as well as advertising tools that help brands reach potential customers across websites, mobile applications and other digital channels.

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