Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $38.40, but opened at $46.50. Criteo shares last traded at $45.79, with a volume of 178,004 shares changing hands.

The information services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. Criteo had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 16.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRTO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $61.00 price objective (up from $59.00) on shares of Criteo in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Criteo from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Criteo in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Criteo from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on Criteo from $50.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Criteo presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Megan Clarken sold 9,284 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.36, for a total value of $374,702.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 509,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,549,092.20. This trade represents a 1.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian Gleason sold 3,135 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.95, for a total transaction of $115,838.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 139,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,139,190.75. The trade was a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,541 shares of company stock worth $860,406 in the last quarter. 1.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Criteo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRTO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Criteo by 80.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 48,395 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,947,000 after acquiring an additional 21,509 shares during the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Criteo in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,405,000. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Criteo by 263.5% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 20,786 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 15,067 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Criteo by 31.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 337,880 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,596,000 after purchasing an additional 80,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Criteo by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,186 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. 94.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Criteo Trading Down 0.8 %

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $40.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.60. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.08 and a beta of 1.05.

Criteo Company Profile

Criteo SA, a technology company, provides marketing and monetization services on the open Internet in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company's Criteo Shopper Graph, which derives clients' proprietary commerce data, such as transaction activity on their digital properties.