Short Interest in The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) Expands By 32.8%

The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,640,000 shares, an increase of 32.8% from the January 31st total of 10,270,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,880,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TTD. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Trade Desk to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Trade Desk from $144.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Trade Desk from $133.00 to $83.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Trade Desk from $116.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Trade Desk from $145.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.45.

Trade Desk Price Performance

Shares of TTD stock traded down $2.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $65.51. The stock had a trading volume of 5,560,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,818,915. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.50 billion, a PE ratio of 83.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.00. Trade Desk has a twelve month low of $64.56 and a twelve month high of $141.53.

Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.21). Trade Desk had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 16.38%. On average, equities 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 authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $564.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jay R. Grant sold 18,524 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.35, for a total transaction of $2,210,839.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 169,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,225,528.40. This trade represents a 9.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey Terry Green sold 18,207 shares of Trade Desk stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 704,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,338,485.76. This represents a 2.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,029 shares of company stock valued at $5,004,296. 9.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TTD. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of Trade Desk during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Trade Desk during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Trade Desk by 68.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 287 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Trade Desk in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Trade Desk in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.77% of the company’s stock.

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.