Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the thirty-five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twenty-two have given a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $7.9056.

SNAP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Snap from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Loop Capital set a $8.00 target price on Snap in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Tigress Financial initiated coverage on Snap in a report on Monday, April 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays upgraded Snap from an “overweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th.

Insider Transactions at Snap

In related news, CFO Derek Andersen sold 92,956 shares of Snap stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.59, for a total value of $426,668.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 3,799,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,440,443.99. This trade represents a 2.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajit Mohan sold 44,785 shares of Snap stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.60, for a total value of $250,796.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,057,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,324,189.60. This trade represents a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 3,021,330 shares of company stock valued at $16,608,998 in the last 90 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SNAP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Snap by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,251,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,100,000 after buying an additional 641,271 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Snap by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,452,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,808,000 after buying an additional 1,179,543 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Snap by 0.3% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,780,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,285,000 after buying an additional 95,989 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Snap in the third quarter valued at $176,697,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Snap by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,525,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,711,000 after buying an additional 469,795 shares in the last quarter. 47.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Snap Trading Down 1.3%

SNAP opened at $5.58 on Wednesday. Snap has a 52 week low of $3.81 and a 52 week high of $10.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.20. The firm has a market cap of $9.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.23 and a beta of 1.03. 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 (NYSE:SNAP) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.08) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Snap will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

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.