Short Interest in Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) Increases By 7.5%

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,740,000 shares, an increase of 7.5% from the January 15th total of 2,550,000 shares. Approximately 5.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 461,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRTO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Criteo from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and set a $61.00 price objective (up previously from $59.00) on shares of Criteo in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Criteo from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Criteo from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Criteo from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Criteo has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $52.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Criteo

In other news, CFO Sarah Js Glickman sold 1,520 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.36, for a total transaction of $61,347.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 311,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,587,396.08. This trade represents a 0.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Megan Clarken sold 13,823 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.56, for a total transaction of $602,129.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 488,229 shares in the company, valued at $21,267,255.24. The trade was a 2.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,845 shares of company stock valued at $1,795,516. 1.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Criteo

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRTO. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in Criteo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Criteo in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Criteo by 99.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,689 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in Criteo by 53.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,192 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Palumbo Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Criteo during the fourth quarter worth $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.27% of the company's stock.

Criteo Price Performance

Criteo stock traded down $1.93 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $41.93. The company had a trading volume of 377,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 478,034. The firm's fifty day moving average is $40.61 and its 200-day moving average is $41.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96 and a beta of 1.05. Criteo has a fifty-two week low of $31.43 and a fifty-two week high of $49.93.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Criteo had a return on equity of 16.37% and a net margin of 5.08%. Analysts anticipate that Criteo will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

About Criteo

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.