Wall Street Zen Upgrades Snap (NYSE:SNAP) to “Buy”

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on SNAP. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Snap in a report on Monday, April 27th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Snap in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Snap from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Snap from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Freedom Capital downgraded Snap from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.48.

Snap Price Performance

NYSE SNAP opened at $4.54 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.64. Snap has a 52-week low of $3.81 and a 52-week high of $10.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 3.53 and a current ratio of 3.53. The stock has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.90 and a beta of 1.05.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.05) EPS 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 company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.08) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Snap will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Snap

In related news, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 16,729 shares of Snap stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.60, for a total value of $93,682.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 512,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,871,741.60. The trade was a 3.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Douglas Hott sold 114,702 shares of Snap stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.67, for a total value of $650,360.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,456,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,928,054.49. This represents a 4.46% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,868,059 shares of company stock worth $15,855,631. 22.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SNAP. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Snap in the third quarter valued at $176,697,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Snap by 874.3% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,066,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,239,000 after buying an additional 9,033,644 shares during the last quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in Snap during the first quarter worth $25,300,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Snap by 1,191.8% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,903,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,330,000 after acquiring an additional 3,601,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its position in Snap by 53.3% during the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 10,300,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,582,223 shares in the last quarter. 47.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.