Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Stock

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $42.00 to $44.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential downside of 3.30% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Criteo from $50.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Criteo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Criteo from $66.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Criteo from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.90.

Criteo Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CRTO opened at $45.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.95 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.60. Criteo has a 52-week low of $30.76 and a 52-week high of $49.93.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Criteo had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 15.56%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Criteo will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Criteo

In other news, insider Brian Gleason sold 3,135 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 139,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,139,190.75. The trade was a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Damon sold 2,793 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total transaction of $118,814.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 115,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,919,580.84. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,541 shares of company stock worth $860,406 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Criteo

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Criteo during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Criteo in the third quarter worth about $50,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Criteo by 117.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,607 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 1,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palumbo Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Criteo during the 4th quarter valued at about $208,000. 94.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.