First Trust Advisors LP Raises Position in Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:IAS)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:IAS) by 295.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 171,378 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 128,056 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.11% of Integral Ad Science worth $1,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Integral Ad Science by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,048,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,467,000 after buying an additional 205,562 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Integral Ad Science by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,848,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,305,000 after purchasing an additional 14,079 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP increased its position in Integral Ad Science by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 1,019,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,639,000 after purchasing an additional 118,719 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Integral Ad Science by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 717,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,756,000 after purchasing an additional 231,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Integral Ad Science by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 603,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,304,000 after buying an additional 7,941 shares during the period. 95.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Integral Ad Science Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IAS opened at $7.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $8.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 3.71. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.20, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.55. Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. has a 1-year low of $6.26 and a 1-year high of $13.62.

Integral Ad Science (NASDAQ:IAS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.03). Integral Ad Science had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 3.47%. The business had revenue of $153.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.06 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. will post 0.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on IAS shares. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 target price (down previously from $16.00) on shares of Integral Ad Science in a report on Friday, March 28th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Integral Ad Science in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Integral Ad Science in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $12.00 target price for the company. Baird R W cut shares of Integral Ad Science from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Integral Ad Science from $16.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Lisa Utzschneider sold 8,547 shares of Integral Ad Science stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.85, for a total value of $58,546.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 341,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,706.35. This trade represents a 2.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 77,855 shares of company stock worth $574,587. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Integral Ad Science Profile

Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. operates as a digital advertising verification company in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Australia, Japan, India, and the Nordics. The company provides IAS Signal, a cloud-based technology platform that offers return on ad spend needs; and deliver independent measurement and verification of digital advertising across devices, channels, and formats, including desktop, mobile, connected TV, social, display, and video.