Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Snap (NYSE:SNAP)

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 91,662 call options on the company. This is an increase of 32% compared to the typical volume of 69,550 call options.

Snap Trading Up 6.4%

Shares of SNAP traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $6.24. The company had a trading volume of 32,683,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,519,207. The stock has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.69 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.26. Snap has a fifty-two week low of $3.81 and a fifty-two week high of $9.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Snap had a negative return on equity of 14.61% and a negative net margin of 4.90%.The firm’s revenue was up 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Snap will post -0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SNAP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Snap in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Snap from $6.40 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Evercore set a $8.00 target price on Snap in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Mizuho raised their price target on Snap from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Snap from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Snap presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Snap

In other Snap news, CTO Robert Murphy sold 2,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.55, for a total value of $11,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 41,809,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,044,340.05. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ajit Mohan sold 6,797 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.82, for a total transaction of $39,558.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 4,965,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,898,046. This trade represents a 0.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,445,926 shares of company stock valued at $13,426,930. Corporate insiders own 22.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Snap

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empyrean Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in Snap in the first quarter valued at $25,300,000. Saba Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Snap by 232.5% in the 1st quarter. Saba Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,727,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,748,000 after purchasing an additional 3,306,024 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Snap by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,535,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401,178 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Snap by 1,191.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,903,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,330,000 after purchasing an additional 3,601,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Snap by 7.1% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,160,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,536,000 after purchasing an additional 209,900 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Snap Company Profile

Snap Inc is a technology and social media company best known for Snapchat, a visual communication platform that enables users to share photos, videos, messages and other content. Snapchat includes features such as Stories, Spotlight for short-form video, Snap Map, augmented reality (AR) Lenses and Bitmoji digital avatars.

The company primarily generates revenue through digital advertising, including advertising formats integrated into Snapchat’s content and communication experiences. Snap also offers subscription services through Snapchat+, develops AR-related products and services, and has introduced hardware products such as Spectacles, smart glasses designed to support augmented reality experiences.

Founded in 2011, the company was initially known as Snapchat Inc and adopted the name Snap Inc in 2016.