First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 293,003 Shares of Snap Inc. $SNAP

First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) by 302.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 389,736 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 293,003 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Snap were worth $1,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in Snap during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,620,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in shares of Snap in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,629,000. Marsico Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Snap in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,620,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in shares of Snap by 1,015.4% during the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,230,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,932,000 after buying an additional 1,120,413 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Snap by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,251,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $817,100,000 after buying an additional 641,271 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Snap Trading Up 2.0%

SNAP stock opened at $5.33 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $4.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.29. Snap Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.81 and a fifty-two week high of $9.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.58 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.94 and a quick ratio of 3.53.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Snap had a negative return on equity of 14.61% and a negative net margin of 4.90%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.16) EPS. Analysts expect that Snap Inc. will post -0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 2,000,000 shares of Snap stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.55, for a total value of $11,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 41,809,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,044,340.05. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas Hott sold 114,702 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer 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 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 4,868,059 shares of company stock worth $26,955,631. 22.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Snap from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Snap from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Snap in a research note on Friday, July 17th. KeyCorp raised shares of Snap from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on shares of Snap from $6.40 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.65.

Snap News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Snap this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Freedom Capital upgraded Snap from “hold” to “strong-buy,” adding a bullish endorsement following the company’s recent earnings performance. Zacks.com
• Positive Sentiment: Snap’s second-quarter results strengthened hopes for a turnaround. Revenue reached $1.60 billion, ahead of expectations, while the adjusted loss per share was narrower than analysts anticipated; revenue also increased 18.9% year over year. Snap: Strong Q2 Earnings Bolster Hopes Of A Turnaround
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage from Cantor Fitzgerald and Wells Fargo projected meaningful upside for Snap, reinforcing investor optimism that improving operating trends could support further appreciation. Cantor Fitzgerald Forecast Wells Fargo Forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target to $6.75, signaling valuation upside from recent trading levels. Citigroup Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Citizens JMP reiterated a “market perform” rating, suggesting the firm sees balanced risk and reward rather than a decisive near-term catalyst. Citizens JMP Rating
• Negative Sentiment: An analyst downgrade led to an 8.1% decline in Snap shares, highlighting continued sensitivity to cautious Wall Street views despite the strong quarter. Snap Trading Down on Analyst Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Rosenblatt Securities issued a pessimistic forecast, adding to concerns that Snap’s earnings improvement may not yet represent a durable recovery. Rosenblatt Securities Forecast

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.