Integral Ad Science (NASDAQ:IAS) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:IAS)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $8.64, but opened at $8.15. Integral Ad Science shares last traded at $8.36, with a volume of 171,981 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on IAS. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Integral Ad Science in a research note on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Integral Ad Science in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Integral Ad Science in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 price target (down previously from $16.00) on shares of Integral Ad Science in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “mixed” rating on shares of Integral Ad Science in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.45.

Integral Ad Science Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 3.71, a current ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $10.05 and its 200-day moving average is $10.57.

Integral Ad Science (NASDAQ:IAS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.03). Integral Ad Science had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 3.47%. The firm had revenue of $153.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.06 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. will post 0.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Lisa Utzschneider sold 5,940 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.75, for a total value of $57,915.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 266,926 shares in the company, valued at $2,602,528.50. This represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 19,109 shares of company stock worth $197,696 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Integral Ad Science

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IAS. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Integral Ad Science during the third quarter worth $41,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Integral Ad Science in the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Integral Ad Science in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Integral Ad Science during the third quarter valued at about $106,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in shares of Integral Ad Science during the fourth quarter valued at about $120,000. 95.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Integral Ad Science

Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. operates as a digital advertising verification company in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Australia, Japan, India, and the Nordics. The company provides IAS Signal, a cloud-based technology platform that offers return on ad spend needs; and deliver independent measurement and verification of digital advertising across devices, channels, and formats, including desktop, mobile, connected TV, social, display, and video.