Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in Snap Inc. $SNAP

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,525,119 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 469,795 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Snap were worth $108,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allstate Corp boosted its stake in shares of Snap by 104.8% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 82,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 42,180 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Snap by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 222,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,796,000 after acquiring an additional 29,120 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Snap by 561.4% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 3,071 shares during the period. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Snap in the fourth quarter worth about $184,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in Snap in the fourth quarter worth about $1,620,000. 47.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SNAP has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Snap from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Snap from $9.50 to $6.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Sunday, February 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Snap from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Snap from $4.50 to $5.25 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Snap from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.44, for a total value of $10,880,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 47,012,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $255,747,042.56. This represents a 4.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Douglas Hott sold 124,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.60, for a total transaction of $695,570.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,571,149 shares in the company, valued at $14,398,434.40. The trade was a 4.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 3,021,330 shares of company stock worth $16,608,998 in the last quarter. 22.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Snap Stock Performance

SNAP opened at $5.76 on Friday. Snap Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.81 and a 52-week high of $10.41. The company has a quick ratio of 3.53, a current ratio of 3.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.99 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $5.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.25.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.14). Snap had a negative return on equity of 18.92% and a negative net margin of 6.72%.The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. Snap’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Snap Inc. will post -0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Snap Company Profile

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.