Stifel Nicolaus Reaffirms "Buy" Rating for Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO)

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $61.00 price objective on the information services provider's stock, up from their prior price objective of $59.00. Stifel Nicolaus' price target would suggest a potential upside of 38.20% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on CRTO. StockNews.com upgraded Criteo from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Criteo from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Criteo from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Criteo from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Criteo in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Criteo currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.90.

Criteo Price Performance

Shares of Criteo stock traded down $1.36 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $44.14. The company had a trading volume of 344,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 477,660. Criteo has a 1-year low of $30.76 and a 1-year high of $49.93. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $40.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.55. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a PE ratio of 26.27 and a beta of 1.05.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Criteo will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Criteo news, CEO Megan Clarken sold 9,284 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.36, for a total transaction of $374,702.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 509,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,549,092.20. The trade was a 1.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Damon sold 2,885 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 $116,438.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 118,334 shares in the company, valued at $4,775,960.24. This trade represents a 2.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,541 shares of company stock valued at $860,406. 1.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Criteo

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRTO. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Criteo by 230.1% in the 3rd quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 2,519,864 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $101,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,756,507 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in Criteo during the third quarter worth about $48,653,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd grew its position in shares of Criteo by 41,776.0% during the 4th quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 994,555 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $39,348,000 after buying an additional 992,180 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in shares of Criteo by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,853,068 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $74,567,000 after acquiring an additional 547,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Senvest Management LLC raised its position in shares of Criteo by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 2,895,784 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $116,526,000 after acquiring an additional 475,530 shares during the period. 94.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.