PubMatic (NASDAQ:PUBM) Shares Up 5.7% – Here’s Why

PubMatic, Inc. (NASDAQ:PUBM)’s share price shot up 5.7% on Thursday. The company traded as high as $18.03 and last traded at $18.4490. 78,604 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 682,028 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.45.

Key PubMatic News

Here are the key news stories impacting PubMatic this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Craig Hallum initiated coverage of PubMatic with a “buy” rating and a $24 price target, implying approximately 29% upside from the referenced $18.60 price. The endorsement adds to the bullish momentum surrounding the stock. Craig Hallum initiates coverage of PubMatic
• Positive Sentiment: PubMatic and Silverpush launched global, episode-level contextual CTV audience segments. The offering is designed to help advertisers target viewers based on the specific television content they are watching, potentially expanding PubMatic’s CTV advertising opportunity. Silverpush and PubMatic launch contextual CTV segments PubMatic expands show-level CTV targeting
• Neutral Sentiment: PubMatic was highlighted as a high-volume momentum stock after a reported 6.3% advance. Zacks cautioned that the latest earnings-estimate revision trend may not support continued near-term gains, creating a potential headwind for the rally. Zacks analysis of PubMatic momentum
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest stood at zero shares as of September 24, with a zero-day days-to-cover ratio. This suggests little measurable short-selling pressure, but also means limited potential for a short-squeeze-driven catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Rajeev Goel sold 50,453 shares for approximately $930,858, reducing his ownership by 50%. The transaction was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, which somewhat reduces its significance as a discretionary bearish signal, but insider selling can still weigh on sentiment. PubMatic CEO SEC Form 4 filing

Analyst Ratings Changes

PUBM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on PubMatic from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded PubMatic from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial raised PubMatic from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Citizens Jmp lifted their target price on PubMatic from $12.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of PubMatic from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $8.00 to $21.00 in a report on Friday, August 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PubMatic currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.73.

PubMatic Stock Up 0.3%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $15.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $847.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -62.00 and a beta of 1.58.

PubMatic (NASDAQ:PUBM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.15. PubMatic had a negative return on equity of 5.41% and a negative net margin of 4.66%.The firm had revenue of $78.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.95 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PubMatic, Inc. will post -0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mukul Kumar sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.78, for a total transaction of $134,240.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 112,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,895,217.10. The trade was a 6.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Andrew Woods sold 38,331 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.96, for a total transaction of $688,424.76. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 39,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $714,107.56. This trade represents a 49.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 597,079 shares of company stock valued at $9,729,494. 27.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of PubMatic by 26.3% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,540,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,602,000 after buying an additional 321,200 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP increased its position in shares of PubMatic by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 1,147,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,174,000 after acquiring an additional 398,595 shares during the period. S Squared Technology LLC raised its stake in PubMatic by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. S Squared Technology LLC now owns 280,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,492,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in PubMatic by 248.0% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 206,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,692,000 after acquiring an additional 147,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in PubMatic during the 1st quarter worth about $1,687,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.26% of the company’s stock.

About PubMatic

PubMatic, Inc (NASDAQ: PUBM) operates a cloud infrastructure platform that helps digital publishers and app developers manage and monetize advertising inventory. Its sell-side platform connects publishers with advertisers, agencies and demand-side platforms, enabling automated buying and selling of digital advertising.

The company’s solutions support advertising across the open internet, including websites, mobile applications, connected television, online video and digital out-of-home environments.