Integral Ad Science (NASDAQ:IAS) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:IAS) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $9.65, but opened at $10.25. Integral Ad Science shares last traded at $11.25, with a volume of 295,051 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on IAS. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Integral Ad Science in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Integral Ad Science in a report on Friday. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Integral Ad Science from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Craig Hallum decreased their price objective on shares of Integral Ad Science from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Integral Ad Science in a research report on Friday. They set a “sector perform” rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.80.

Integral Ad Science Stock Up 9.0 %

The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 52.60, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $10.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 3.71 and a current ratio of 3.71.

Integral Ad Science (NASDAQ:IAS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $153.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.83 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.06 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. will post 0.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Integral Ad Science news, CEO Lisa Utzschneider sold 5,940 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,602,528.50. This trade represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 19,109 shares of company stock valued at $197,696 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Integral Ad Science

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Integral Ad Science by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,048,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,467,000 after purchasing an additional 205,562 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Integral Ad Science during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,543,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Integral Ad Science by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,789,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,567,000 after acquiring an additional 580,323 shares in the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Integral Ad Science by 0.6% in the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 2,772,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,970,000 after acquiring an additional 17,166 shares during the period. Finally, Ararat Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Integral Ad Science by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Ararat Capital Management LP now owns 2,281,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,823,000 after acquiring an additional 269,346 shares in the last quarter. 95.78% of the stock is owned by 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.