Short Interest in The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) Increases By 32.8%

The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,640,000 shares, an increase of 32.8% from the January 31st total of 10,270,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,880,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TTD shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Trade Desk from $160.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Trade Desk from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Trade Desk from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Trade Desk from $134.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Trade Desk from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Trade Desk has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.45.

Trade Desk Stock Performance

Shares of TTD opened at $66.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.01 billion, a PE ratio of 85.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.45. Trade Desk has a 1 year low of $64.56 and a 1 year high of $141.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.00.

Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.21). Trade Desk had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 16.38%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Trade Desk will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Trade Desk declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $564.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Trade Desk

In related news, insider Samantha Jacobson sold 4,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.56, for a total value of $509,570.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 90,709 shares in the company, valued at $10,754,459.04. The trade was a 4.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jay R. Grant sold 18,524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.35, for a total transaction of $2,210,839.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 169,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,225,528.40. This represents a 9.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,029 shares of company stock worth $5,004,296. Company insiders own 9.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Trade Desk

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Trade Desk by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,670,254 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,015,035,000 after buying an additional 253,137 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in Trade Desk by 4.7% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 38,716,074 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,245,218,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720,650 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Trade Desk by 11.0% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 20,320,769 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,228,172,000 after acquiring an additional 2,013,047 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its holdings in Trade Desk by 133.3% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 9,934,156 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,089,280,000 after acquiring an additional 5,675,571 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Trade Desk by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,916,932 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $930,477,000 after acquiring an additional 198,822 shares during the period. 67.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trade Desk Company Profile

The Trade Desk, Inc operates as a technology company in the United States and internationally. The company offers a self-service cloud-based platform that allows buyers to plan, manage, optimize, and measure data-driven digital advertising campaigns across various ad formats and channels, including video, display, audio, digital-out-of-home, native, and social on various devices, such as computers, mobile devices, televisions, and streaming devices.