Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Snap (NYSE:SNAP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on SNAP. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $6.40 target price on shares of Snap in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Freedom Capital cut shares of Snap from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Snap from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Snap from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $8.00 price target on shares of Snap in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.48.

Snap Trading Down 3.3%

NYSE:SNAP opened at $4.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 3.53 and a quick ratio of 3.53. Snap has a fifty-two week low of $3.81 and a fifty-two week high of $10.41. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.66 billion, a PE 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) earnings per share 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 return on equity of 18.92% and a negative net margin of 6.72%.Snap’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Snap will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Snap

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SNAP. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Snap by 92.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the period. Arax Advisory Partners grew its holdings in Snap by 220.0% during the fourth quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 3,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Snap during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Snap by 561.4% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 3,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Snap during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

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.