Wall Street Zen Downgrades PubMatic (NASDAQ:PUBM) to Sell

PubMatic (NASDAQ:PUBM) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of PubMatic in a report on Monday, January 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of PubMatic in a research note on Friday, March 20th. B. Riley Financial raised PubMatic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $10.50 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Lake Street Capital upgraded shares of PubMatic from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PubMatic in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.63.

PubMatic Price Performance

Shares of PUBM opened at $8.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $392.00 million, a P/E ratio of -26.68 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.23. PubMatic has a twelve month low of $6.15 and a twelve month high of $13.88.

PubMatic (NASDAQ:PUBM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $80.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.12 million. PubMatic had a negative net margin of 5.11% and a negative return on equity of 5.64%. Sell-side analysts expect that PubMatic will post 0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven Pantelick sold 16,747 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.17, for a total value of $136,822.99. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,600.17. This represents a 22.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Amar K. Goel sold 6,528 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.17, for a total transaction of $53,333.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 24,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,619.22. The trade was a 21.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 358,350 shares of company stock worth $2,726,301. 26.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PubMatic

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PUBM. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of PubMatic in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in PubMatic by 75.6% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,915 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in PubMatic by 264.8% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 3,541 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in PubMatic by 120.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 4,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in PubMatic in the fourth quarter worth $91,000. 64.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PubMatic News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PubMatic this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent fundamentals: PubMatic reported a quarterly earnings beat (Feb. 26) with EPS $0.29 vs. $0.16 expected and revenue $80.05M vs. $76.12M expected — a point in support of the stock. Earnings / Marketbeat
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/context: shares have traded around the low single digits relative to their 50-day ($7.54) and 200-day ($8.23) SMAs, leaving limited upside unless demand returns. Price summary
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Rajeev K. Goel sold 49,916 shares at an average $8.17, reducing his holding by ~51.1% (proceeds ~$407.8K) — a large top-exec divestiture that can be viewed as a negative signal on insider conviction. SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Steven Pantelick sold 16,747 shares at ~$8.17 (proceeds ~$136.8K), a ~22.5% cut in his position — further top-team selling that may amplify negative market reaction. SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Chairman Amar K. Goel sold 6,528 shares at ~$8.17 (proceeds ~$53.3K), trimming his stake by ~21.3% — another insider reduction from the board level. SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Other insiders (Mukul Kumar and General Counsel Andrew Woods) sold 7,830 and 5,710 shares respectively at ~$8.17, modestly reducing their positions — adds breadth to the insider selling pattern. Kumar SEC Filing Woods SEC Filing

PubMatic Company Profile

PubMatic is a cloud-based digital advertising technology company that provides a supply-side platform (SSP) enabling publishers to automate and optimize the sale of their ad inventory across display, mobile, video and connected TV channels. Its core offerings include real-time bidding infrastructure, header bidding solutions under the OpenWrap brand and data analytics tools that deliver actionable insights on audience engagement and monetization performance. By facilitating seamless auctions and providing transparent reporting, PubMatic helps publishers maximize yield while improving buyer experiences.

Founded in 2006 by Rajeev Goel and a team of ad-tech veterans, PubMatic grew from an early entrant in programmatic selling to a publicly traded company, listing on the Nasdaq (symbol: PUBM) in December 2020.