Viant Technology (NASDAQ:DSP) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Viant Technology's stock price fell sharply from a previous close of $12.00 to an opening of $10.67 after JMP Securities downgraded its price target from $24.00 to $18.00.
• Despite the downgrade, analysts have given mixed ratings, with seven having a buy rating and one a strong buy rating, leading to an average target price of $20.38.
• Insider trading activity includes sales by CFO Larry Madden and CEO Timothy Vanderhook, each reducing their ownership by approximately 3% and signaling potential concerns over the company's performance.

Viant Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:DSP - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after JMP Securities lowered their price target on the stock from $24.00 to $18.00. The stock had previously closed at $12.00, but opened at $10.67. JMP Securities currently has a market outperform rating on the stock. Viant Technology shares last traded at $9.77, with a volume of 159,229 shares trading hands.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Viant Technology from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Viant Technology in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viant Technology currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $20.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Larry Madden sold 13,265 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.08, for a total transaction of $173,506.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 436,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,706,293.88. This trade represents a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy Vanderhook sold 8,960 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.08, for a total value of $117,196.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 365,076 shares in the company, valued at $4,775,194.08. This trade represents a 2.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,125 shares of company stock valued at $430,048. Company insiders own 28.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DSP. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Viant Technology by 63.2% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 21,834 shares of the company's stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 8,453 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Viant Technology by 353.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 438,280 shares of the company's stock worth $8,323,000 after acquiring an additional 341,684 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Viant Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $255,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in Viant Technology by 76.3% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 8,846 shares of the company's stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 3,829 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Viant Technology by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 58,492 shares of the company's stock worth $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. 11.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viant Technology Trading Down 18.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $611.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.50 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.12.

About Viant Technology

Viant Technology Inc operates as an advertising technology company. It provides Household ID, a people-based innovation that combines digital and personal identifiers into a normalized household profile; AI Bid Optimizer, solution that uses AI to analyze historical bid opportunities to predict the lowest media cost for desired advertisement; and Viant Data Platform, which offers marketers control over their own data with actionable insights into their marketing initiatives within a single platform.

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