Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 22,566 Shares of Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) by 46.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,961 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,566 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Criteo were worth $2,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRTO. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Criteo by 31.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 437,419 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,602,000 after buying an additional 103,593 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Criteo in the third quarter valued at $2,171,000. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Criteo in the 3rd quarter valued at about $928,000. 272 Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Criteo during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,141,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Criteo by 681.8% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 25,800 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 22,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.27% of the company’s stock.

Criteo Stock Performance

CRTO stock opened at $36.64 on Friday. Criteo S.A. has a 52 week low of $33.15 and a 52 week high of $49.93. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.82.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Criteo S.A. will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 sale, the insider now directly owns 137,161 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,090.88. This represents a 1.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 488,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,267,255.24. The trade was a 2.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,363 shares of company stock valued at $1,124,213 over the last 90 days. 1.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRTO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Criteo in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Criteo from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $61.00 price target (up previously from $59.00) on shares of Criteo in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Criteo from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Criteo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.90.

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.