PubMatic, Inc. (NASDAQ:PUBM) Short Interest Up 34.9% in March

PubMatic, Inc. (NASDAQ:PUBM) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,470,000 shares, a growth of 34.9% from the February 28th total of 1,090,000 shares. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 457,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Amar K. Goel sold 4,087 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.84, for a total value of $60,651.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 14,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $208,412.96. This represents a 22.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rajeev K. Goel sold 17,793 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.84, for a total value of $264,048.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 30,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $458,496.64. This trade represents a 36.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 94,811 shares of company stock worth $1,438,381 over the last three months. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PubMatic

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in PubMatic by 222.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 752,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,187,000 after acquiring an additional 519,275 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC acquired a new stake in PubMatic during the fourth quarter valued at $4,701,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in PubMatic by 377.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 340,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,101,000 after purchasing an additional 269,217 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PubMatic by 122.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 434,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,466,000 after buying an additional 239,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in PubMatic by 263.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 226,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,325,000 after acquiring an additional 163,979 shares during the last quarter. 64.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PUBM shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on PubMatic from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on PubMatic from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Lake Street Capital decreased their price target on shares of PubMatic from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of PubMatic in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.89.

PubMatic Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PUBM traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $9.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 172,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,295. The firm has a market cap of $447.18 million, a P/E ratio of 29.72 and a beta of 1.48. PubMatic has a 1-year low of $8.92 and a 1-year high of $25.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $13.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.46.

PubMatic (NASDAQ:PUBM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $85.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.24 million. PubMatic had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 6.12%. As a group, research analysts predict that PubMatic will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About PubMatic

PubMatic, Inc, a technology company, engages in the provision of a cloud infrastructure platform that enables real-time programmatic advertising transactions for digital content creators, advertisers, agencies, agency trading desks, and demand side platforms worldwide. Its PubMatic SSP, a sell-side platform, used for the purchase and sale of digital advertising inventory for publishers and buyers.