Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Snap (NYSE:SNAP)

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 183,007 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 47% compared to the typical volume of 124,131 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 16,499 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.70, for a total transaction of $77,545.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 466,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,193,405.40. This trade represents a 3.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Zachary M. Briers sold 11,437 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.04, for a total value of $69,079.48. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 2,774,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,755,147.24. The trade was a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 2,565,573 shares of company stock valued at $13,329,781 in the last three months.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Snap by 92.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services acquired a new position in Snap in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Arax Advisory Partners raised its holdings in Snap by 220.0% in the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 3,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 2,275 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Snap during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Snap by 561.4% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 3,071 shares during the last quarter. 47.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Snap Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:SNAP traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $6.13. The company had a trading volume of 44,220,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 52,794,855. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.65 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.60. Snap has a 12-month low of $3.81 and a 12-month high of $10.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.56, a quick ratio of 3.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.12). Snap had a negative return on equity of 20.72% and a negative net margin of 7.76%.The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Snap will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SNAP. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Snap in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Snap in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. KeyCorp raised Snap from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Snap in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays raised Snap from an “overweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, twenty have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Snap presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.93.

About Snap

Snap Inc is a camera and social media company best known for developing and operating Snapchat, a multimedia messaging application that allows users to send photos, videos and messages that disappear after being viewed. In addition to its core messaging service, Snap offers a suite of augmented reality (AR) tools, including custom Lenses and Filters, that enable users and third-party developers to create interactive and immersive experiences. The company also provides advertising solutions that allow brands to engage audiences through Snap Ads, Sponsored Lenses and Discover content on the platform.

Founded in 2011 by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, Snap has continually focused on innovation in camera technology and AR.