Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Sees Strong Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) shares saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 24,395,103 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the previous session’s volume of 25,392,574 shares.The stock last traded at $9.42 and had previously closed at $9.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Snap from $13.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Snap in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Snap in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on Snap from $14.00 to $14.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Snap in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Snap currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.87.

Snap Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.38 and a 200-day moving average of $10.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.22 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 3.95, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.13). Snap had a negative net margin of 13.02% and a negative return on equity of 25.67%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Snap Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Snap

In other news, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.84, for a total transaction of $195,120.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 498,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,403,718.32. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Derek Andersen sold 22,720 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.58, for a total value of $194,937.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 3,541,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,386,198.70. The trade was a 0.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,350,523 shares of company stock worth $12,698,797 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 22.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Snap

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital International Investors purchased a new position in Snap during the fourth quarter worth about $422,049,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Snap by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 84,137,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $906,161,000 after purchasing an additional 23,569,522 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Snap during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,162,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Snap in the 4th quarter worth $27,713,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Snap by 62.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,211,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,462,000 after buying an additional 2,386,519 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Snap Company Profile

Snap Inc operates as a technology company in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers Snapchat, a visual messaging application with various tabs, such as camera, visual messaging, snap map, stories, and spotlight that enable people to communicate visually through short videos and images.