HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 38,924 Shares of Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) by 27.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 182,578 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 38,924 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Criteo were worth $7,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRTO. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Criteo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $208,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Criteo by 51.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,605 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 1,916 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Criteo by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,174 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Criteo by 40.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc bought a new stake in shares of Criteo during the third quarter worth about $250,000. Institutional investors own 94.27% of the company’s stock.

Criteo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CRTO opened at $34.95 on Wednesday. Criteo S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $33.15 and a fifty-two week high of $49.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $39.30 and its 200 day moving average is $40.17. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80 and a beta of 0.98.

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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Criteo S.A. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Criteo news, insider Brian Gleason sold 1,924 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.08, for a total transaction of $73,265.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 137,161 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,090.88. This trade represents a 1.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Megan Clarken sold 13,823 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.56, for a total transaction of $602,129.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 488,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,267,255.24. This trade represents a 2.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,363 shares of company stock valued at $1,124,213 over the last ninety days. 1.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CRTO shares. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $61.00 price target (up previously from $59.00) on shares of Criteo in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Criteo from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Criteo from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Criteo from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Criteo in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.90.

Criteo 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.