Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Criteo shares opened higher, rising from a previous close of $14.89 to $15.74, although the stock remained below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the consensus rating is Hold with a $22.65 price target, while recent firms lowered ratings or targets despite Criteo exceeding quarterly earnings estimates.
• Criteo reported adjusted earnings of $0.80 per share versus $0.71 expected, but revenue fell 11.3% year over year. Insiders sold shares primarily to cover tax obligations, while institutional investors own 94.27% of the company.

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday. The stock had previously closed at $14.89, but opened at $15.74. Criteo shares last traded at $15.6880, with a volume of 3,204 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on CRTO shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Criteo from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $20.50 in a report 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. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Criteo in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wedbush reduced their target price on Criteo from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Criteo in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.65.

Criteo Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $761.02 million, a P/E ratio of 7.89 and a beta of 0.29. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $16.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.17.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The information services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.09. Criteo had a net margin of 5.60% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The business had revenue of $428.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Criteo S.A. will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael Komasinski sold 1,656 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.28, for a total transaction of $28,615.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,891 shares in the company, valued at $5,942,436.48. This represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.23, for a total value of $108,290.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 424,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,316,064.76. The trade was a 1.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 30,725 shares of company stock valued at $529,527 over the last quarter. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Criteo

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Criteo by 15.8% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 54,023 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 7,352 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Criteo during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Criteo by 61.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,465 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Criteo by 357.9% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,126 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 3,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Criteo by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,769,644 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $31,774,000 after buying an additional 77,145 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.27% of the company's stock.

About Criteo

Criteo SA is a global commerce media company headquartered in Paris, France. The company provides technology that helps advertisers, retailers and publishers connect with consumers and measure the impact of digital marketing campaigns across the commerce journey.

Criteo's platform supports retail media and performance marketing activities, including sponsored product placements, display and video advertising, audience activation, customer acquisition and campaign measurement. Its solutions are designed to use commerce data and artificial intelligence to help brands reach relevant audiences, while enabling retailers and publishers to generate advertising revenue.

Founded in 2005 by Jean-Baptiste Rudelle, Franck Le Ouay and Romain Niccoli, Criteo serves clients across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

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