Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Trading Up 9.3% – Here’s What Happened

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) was up 9.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $4.52 and last traded at $4.3950. Approximately 27,077,071 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 50,071,074 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SNAP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised Snap from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Snap in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Snap in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Roth Mkm set a $7.00 target price on Snap in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Snap from $9.50 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.17.

Snap Stock Up 12.8%

The company has a current ratio of 3.56, a quick ratio of 3.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.84 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $5.40 and its 200-day moving average is $7.05.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Snap had a negative net margin of 7.76% and a negative return on equity of 20.72%. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.01 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Snap Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Snap

In other news, CFO Derek Andersen sold 92,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.59, for a total transaction of $426,668.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 3,799,661 shares in the company, valued at $17,440,443.99. The trade was a 2.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ajit Mohan sold 119,339 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.70, for a total value of $560,893.30. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,158,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,244,841.90. This represents a 2.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,570,641 shares of company stock worth $13,436,343 in the last 90 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Snap

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Snap during the third quarter worth about $176,697,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Snap by 874.3% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,066,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,239,000 after purchasing an additional 9,033,644 shares in the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Snap during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,071,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Snap by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 10,300,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,420,000 after buying an additional 3,582,223 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Snap by 537.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,150,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,492,000 after buying an additional 3,499,578 shares in the last quarter. 47.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.