Short Interest in The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) Increases By 43.0%

The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 23,460,000 shares, an increase of 43.0% from the February 28th total of 16,410,000 shares. Currently, 5.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 8,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on TTD shares. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Trade Desk from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Trade Desk from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Trade Desk from $116.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Trade Desk from $142.00 to $101.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Trade Desk from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.41.

Trade Desk Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TTD opened at $55.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.60, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $85.01 and a 200-day moving average of $108.37. Trade Desk has a 52 week low of $53.39 and a 52 week 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.21). Trade Desk had a return on equity of 16.38% and a net margin of 16.08%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Trade Desk will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Trade Desk announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Trade Desk

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Terry Green sold 18,207 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 704,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,338,485.76. The trade was a 2.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Samantha Jacobson sold 4,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.56, for a total transaction of $509,570.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 90,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,754,459.04. The trade was a 4.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,029 shares of company stock valued at $5,004,296 in the last 90 days. 9.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Trade Desk

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lyell Wealth Management LP grew its holdings in Trade Desk by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 98,339 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,558,000 after acquiring an additional 19,204 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Trade Desk by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,347,318 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $159,132,000 after purchasing an additional 358,350 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Trade Desk by 3.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,109,380 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $231,294,000 after purchasing an additional 68,206 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Trade Desk by 276.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 70,237 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,255,000 after purchasing an additional 51,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Trade Desk by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 64,358 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,057,000 after purchasing an additional 11,181 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.77% of the company’s stock.

About Trade Desk

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.