Taboola.com (NASDAQ:TBLA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Taboola.com Ltd. (NASDAQ:TBLA) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 1,722,346 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 55% from the previous session’s volume of 1,109,821 shares.The stock last traded at $3.00 and had previously closed at $2.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TBLA. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on shares of Taboola.com in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JMP Securities dropped their target price on shares of Taboola.com from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Taboola.com from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Taboola.com in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, B. Riley downgraded Taboola.com from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $5.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4.50.

Taboola.com Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $866.32 million, a P/E ratio of -29.40 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Taboola.com declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 22.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Zvi Limon acquired 168,506 shares of Taboola.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $2.93 per share, for a total transaction of $493,722.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,987,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,753,032.19. The trade was a 5.98 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adam Singolda acquired 60,229 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $2.72 per share, with a total value of $163,822.88. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 14,462,943 shares in the company, valued at $39,339,204.96. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 22.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wolverine Trading LLC lifted its position in Taboola.com by 98.4% in the 4th quarter. Wolverine Trading LLC now owns 17,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 8,463 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Taboola.com in the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Taboola.com in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $81,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Taboola.com during the 4th quarter worth $103,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Taboola.com in the 4th quarter worth about $109,000. 42.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Taboola.com Company Profile

Taboola.com Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, operates an artificial intelligence-based algorithmic engine platform in Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It offers Taboola, a platform that partners with websites, devices, and mobile apps to recommend editorial content and advertisements on the open web to users.