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

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 195,165 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 50% compared to the average daily volume of 129,796 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SNAP has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Snap from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Snap from $12.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Snap from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Snap from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Snap from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Snap currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.65.

Snap Price Performance

NYSE SNAP traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $10.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 53,849,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,386,230. The stock has a market cap of $17.99 billion, a PE ratio of -13.13 and a beta of 1.13. Snap has a fifty-two week low of $7.86 and a fifty-two week high of $17.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $11.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 4.39 and a current ratio of 4.39.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.04. Snap had a negative net margin of 28.71% and a negative return on equity of 47.47%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 billion. Analysts forecast that Snap will post -0.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 13,000 shares of Snap stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.16, for a total transaction of $210,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 461,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,449,840.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.16, for a total value of $210,080.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 461,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,449,840.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 2,442 shares of Snap stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.00, for a total transaction of $26,862.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 493,084 shares in the company, valued at $5,423,924. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 470,054 shares of company stock valued at $5,279,729 in the last three months.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Snap

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SNAP. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Snap by 72.6% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 3,556 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Snap by 28.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Snap by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 23,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 2,061 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Snap by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 786,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,305,000 after acquiring an additional 5,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Snap during the 1st quarter valued at $3,216,000. 47.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Snap

Snap Inc operates as a technology company in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers Snapchat, a visual messaging application with various tabs, such as camera, visual messaging, snap map, stories, and spotlight that enable people to communicate visually through short videos and images.