Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Stock Price Up 5.9% – What’s Next?

Shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) were up 5.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $5.57 and last traded at $5.6550. 6,938,498 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 45,791,941 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on SNAP. Stifel Nicolaus set a $7.50 price objective on Snap in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Snap in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of Snap in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on shares of Snap from $6.40 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Snap from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.65.

Snap Stock Up 4.2%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.21. The company has a market cap of $9.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.92 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a current ratio of 2.94.

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

Insider Transactions at Snap

In related news, insider Ajit Mohan sold 54,608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.20, for a total value of $283,961.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 4,972,097 shares in the company, valued at $25,854,904.40. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO Robert Murphy sold 2,000,000 shares of Snap stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.55, for a total transaction of $11,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 41,809,791 shares in the company, valued at $232,044,340.05. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,445,926 shares of company stock valued at $13,426,930.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Snap

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SNAP. Saba Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Snap by 232.5% during the 1st quarter. Saba Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,727,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,748,000 after purchasing an additional 3,306,024 shares in the last quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in Snap during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,300,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Snap by 1,191.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,903,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,330,000 after buying an additional 3,601,002 shares during the period. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Snap during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,629,000. Finally, Marsico Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Snap in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,620,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

About Snap

Snap Inc is a technology and social media company best known for Snapchat, a visual communication platform that enables users to share photos, videos, messages and other content. Snapchat includes features such as Stories, Spotlight for short-form video, Snap Map, augmented reality (AR) Lenses and Bitmoji digital avatars.

The company primarily generates revenue through digital advertising, including advertising formats integrated into Snapchat’s content and communication experiences. Snap also offers subscription services through Snapchat+, develops AR-related products and services, and has introduced hardware products such as Spectacles, smart glasses designed to support augmented reality experiences.

Founded in 2011, the company was initially known as Snapchat Inc and adopted the name Snap Inc in 2016.