Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) Short Interest Up 80.7% in June

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 923,100 shares, an increase of 80.7% from the May 31st total of 510,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 346,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Criteo Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of CRTO traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $37.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 467,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 445,419. Criteo has a one year low of $22.10 and a one year high of $39.97. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.89 and a beta of 0.95.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The information services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.14. Criteo had a return on equity of 12.33% and a net margin of 2.96%. The company had revenue of $253.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $246.10 million. On average, research analysts predict that Criteo will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Till Hufnagel purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $37.67 per share, for a total transaction of $226,020.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,777,425 shares in the company, valued at $66,955,599.75. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Sarah Js Glickman sold 5,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.40, for a total value of $194,841.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 327,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,584,012.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Till Hufnagel acquired 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $37.67 per share, with a total value of $226,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,777,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,955,599.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 41,672 shares of company stock worth $1,561,239. 1.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Criteo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Criteo by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 13,803 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Criteo by 64.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,838 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Criteo by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 101,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,549,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Criteo by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 11,350 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. bought a new stake in Criteo during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 94.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Criteo in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Criteo from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Criteo from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Criteo from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Criteo from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, May 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.44.

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.