Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Stock Price

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) had its price objective cut by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $44.00 to $40.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 33.78% from the stock’s previous close.

CRTO has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Criteo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 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 research report on Thursday, February 6th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Criteo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 price target (up from $59.00) on shares of Criteo in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Criteo from $48.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.40.

Criteo Stock Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ CRTO opened at $29.90 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.80 and a beta of 0.74. Criteo has a 52 week low of $27.46 and a 52 week high of $49.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.44.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last released its 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 5.08% and a return on equity of 16.37%. Research analysts anticipate that Criteo will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Criteo

In related news, insider Brian Gleason sold 3,135 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $5,139,190.75. The trade was a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Megan Clarken sold 13,823 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.56, for a total value of $602,129.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 488,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,267,255.24. The trade was a 2.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,363 shares of company stock worth $1,124,213. Insiders own 1.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Criteo

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CRTO. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new stake in Criteo during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Criteo by 53.2% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,192 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Criteo during the 4th quarter worth about $208,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new position in Criteo during the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Criteo in the 4th quarter valued at about $220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.27% of the company’s stock.

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.