Traders Purchase High Volume of Criteo Call Options (NASDAQ:CRTO)

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 20,004 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 6,681% compared to the typical volume of 295 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRTO has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on Criteo from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Criteo from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Criteo from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. TheStreet raised shares of Criteo from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Criteo from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.11.

Criteo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CRTO opened at $35.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 39.91 and a beta of 0.95. Criteo has a 52 week low of $22.10 and a 52 week high of $36.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $33.95 and its 200-day moving average is $28.68.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The information services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.30. Criteo had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm had revenue of $316.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $300.35 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Criteo will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Megan Clarken sold 5,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $191,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 552,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,352,655. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Sarah Js Glickman sold 9,653 shares of Criteo stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.69, for a total transaction of $315,556.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 293,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,578,791.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Megan Clarken sold 5,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $191,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 552,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,352,655. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 83,103 shares of company stock worth $2,737,473. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Criteo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CenterBook Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Criteo by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 13,432 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Criteo by 7.8% in 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 buying an additional 822 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. purchased a new position in Criteo in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Criteo during the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Black Creek Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Criteo by 5.3% in the third quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. now owns 39,733 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. 94.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.