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

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of 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. Currently, 5.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 461,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.9 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian Gleason sold 3,135 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.95, for a total transaction of $115,838.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 139,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,139,190.75. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sarah Js Glickman sold 1,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.36, for a total transaction of $61,347.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 311,878 shares in the company, valued at $12,587,396.08. This trade represents a 0.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,845 shares of company stock valued at $1,795,516 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Criteo

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in Criteo during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Criteo during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Criteo by 99.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,689 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 1,840 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in Criteo by 53.2% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,192 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Finally, Palumbo Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Criteo during the 4th quarter valued at $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.27% of the company’s stock.

Criteo Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CRTO traded up $0.80 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.52. The company had a trading volume of 507,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 463,777. Criteo has a 12 month low of $30.76 and a 12 month high of $49.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.50 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $40.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.51.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last announced 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 net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 16.37%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Criteo will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CRTO. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Criteo in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Criteo from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Criteo from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $61.00 price target (up previously from $59.00) on shares of Criteo in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.90.

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.