The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 16,410,000 shares, a growth of 20.3% from the February 13th total of 13,640,000 shares. Approximately 3.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Trade Desk Price Performance

Shares of TTD opened at $55.32 on Thursday. Trade Desk has a 12 month low of $53.39 and a 12 month high of $141.53. The stock has a market cap of $27.44 billion, a PE ratio of 70.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $93.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.50.

Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.21). Trade Desk had a return on equity of 16.38% and a net margin of 16.08%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Trade Desk will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Trade Desk announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $564.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Trade Desk news, insider Samantha Jacobson sold 4,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.56, for a total transaction of $509,570.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 90,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,754,459.04. This trade represents a 4.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey Terry Green sold 18,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.44, for a total value of $2,283,886.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 704,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,338,485.76. The trade was a 2.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,029 shares of company stock valued at $5,004,296. Corporate insiders own 9.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Trade Desk

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ithaka Group LLC increased its position in shares of Trade Desk by 4.5% during the third quarter. Ithaka Group LLC now owns 112,888 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,378,000 after acquiring an additional 4,836 shares during the last quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP increased its holdings in Trade Desk by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 98,339 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,558,000 after buying an additional 19,204 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Trade Desk by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,347,318 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $159,132,000 after buying an additional 358,350 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Trade Desk by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,321,400 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $144,892,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Trade Desk by 3.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,109,380 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $231,294,000 after buying an additional 68,206 shares during the last quarter. 67.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TTD shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Trade Desk from $142.00 to $101.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Trade Desk from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities decreased their price objective on Trade Desk from $150.00 to $115.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Trade Desk from $144.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Trade Desk from $145.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Trade Desk presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.41.

Trade Desk Company Profile

The Trade Desk, Inc operates as a technology company in the United States and internationally. The company offers a self-service cloud-based platform that allows buyers to plan, manage, optimize, and measure data-driven digital advertising campaigns across various ad formats and channels, including video, display, audio, digital-out-of-home, native, and social on various devices, such as computers, mobile devices, televisions, and streaming devices.