Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Stock Price

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at Citigroup from $23.00 to $21.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Citigroup‘s target price points to a potential upside of 36.19% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Criteo from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Criteo from $25.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Criteo from $29.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Criteo from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $20.50 in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Criteo from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.35.

Criteo Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of CRTO stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $15.42. 439,859 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 322,518. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.98. Criteo has a 12-month low of $13.95 and a 12-month high of $25.29. The stock has a market cap of $755.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 0.35.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The information services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $240.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.18 million. Criteo had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 5.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Criteo will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Criteo

In other news, CEO Michael Komasinski sold 1,656 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.28, for a total transaction of $28,615.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 343,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,942,436.48. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,855 shares of company stock worth $48,898. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Criteo by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 54,023 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 7,352 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Criteo during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Criteo by 61.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,465 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,314 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Criteo by 357.9% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 3,225 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Criteo by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,769,644 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,774,000 after buying an additional 77,145 shares during the period. 94.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Criteo News

Here are the key news stories impacting Criteo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup lowered its target to $21 from $23 but kept a Buy rating, implying substantial upside from the reference share price. Criteo price target at Citigroup
• Positive Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha analysis upgraded Criteo, citing a ramp in connected-TV advertising and stabilization in advertiser spending as reasons for renewed optimism. Criteo CTV and spending outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Wedbush cut its target to $21 from $25 while maintaining an Outperform rating, combining a more cautious valuation with continued confidence in the shares. Criteo price target at Wedbush
• Neutral Sentiment: Criteo forecast fourth-quarter contribution excluding traffic acquisition costs of $292 million to $298 million and is targeting a U.S. redomiciliation effective January 1, 2027; the supplied report gives no comparison to prior expectations. Criteo Q4 forecast and redomiciliation
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo lowered its target to $14 from $15 and kept an Equal Weight rating, signaling downside relative to the reference price. Criteo price target at Wells Fargo
• Negative Sentiment: Recent Q3 results add pressure: earnings per share of $0.43 missed the $0.57 consensus, and revenue fell 16.7% year over year to $240.36 million, despite slightly exceeding estimates. Criteo Q3 income drops

Criteo Company Profile

Criteo SA (NASDAQ: CRTO) is a global commerce media and advertising technology company headquartered in Paris, France. The company helps brands, retailers and other businesses use commerce data and artificial intelligence to reach consumers, build customer relationships and measure advertising performance across digital channels.

Criteo’s offerings include retail media solutions, which enable retailers and marketplace operators to provide sponsored product listings and other advertising placements, as well as performance media tools for campaigns across websites, mobile applications and the open internet.