Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Reduces Holdings in Snap Inc. $SNAP

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lessened its stake in shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) by 23.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 440,989 shares of the company’s stock after selling 137,582 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Snap were worth $2,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Snap in the 1st quarter valued at $353,000. OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Snap during the first quarter worth about $514,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its stake in Snap by 1,602.0% during the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 57,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 54,451 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $20,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401,178 shares during the period. Finally, Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Snap in the 1st quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ajit Mohan sold 44,785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.60, for a total transaction of $250,796.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,057,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,324,189.60. This trade represents a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 2,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.44, for a total value of $10,880,000.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 47,012,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $255,747,042.56. This represents a 4.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,907,554 shares of company stock worth $16,093,619.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SNAP has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Snap in a report on Monday, April 27th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Snap from $4.50 to $5.25 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $6.50 target price on shares of Snap in a report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group set a $8.00 price target on shares of Snap in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Snap from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Snap presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.79.

Snap Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:SNAP opened at $4.83 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $8.16 billion, a PE ratio of -20.14 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $5.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.84. The company has a quick ratio of 3.53, a current ratio of 3.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. Snap Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.81 and a 52 week high of $10.41.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. Snap had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a negative return on equity of 18.92%. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Snap Inc. will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

Snap 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.