Taboola.com (NASDAQ:TBLA) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Taboola.com Ltd. (NASDAQ:TBLA) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 1,722,346 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 55% from the previous session’s volume of 1,109,821 shares.The stock last traded at $3.00 and had previously closed at $2.96.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on TBLA. JMP Securities cut their price objective on shares of Taboola.com from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 target price on shares of Taboola.com in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. B. Riley lowered Taboola.com from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $5.00 to $4.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Taboola.com in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Taboola.com from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4.50.

Taboola.com Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $867.79 million, a P/E ratio of -29.45 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Taboola.com announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 22.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Taboola.com news, Director Zvi Limon bought 168,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $2.93 per share, for a total transaction of $493,722.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,987,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,753,032.19. This represents a 5.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam Singolda acquired 60,229 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $2.72 per share, with a total value of $163,822.88. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 14,462,943 shares in the company, valued at $39,339,204.96. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 22.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Taboola.com

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Taboola.com by 54.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 727,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,443,000 after buying an additional 257,009 shares during the period. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Taboola.com in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,724,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Taboola.com by 410.5% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 512,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,870,000 after buying an additional 412,042 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Taboola.com by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 33,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 6,094 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Taboola.com by 1,218.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 36,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 33,668 shares in the last quarter. 42.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Taboola.com

Taboola.com Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, operates an artificial intelligence-based algorithmic engine platform in Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It offers Taboola, a platform that partners with websites, devices, and mobile apps to recommend editorial content and advertisements on the open web to users.