Morgan Stanley Boosts Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Price Target to $12.00

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $11.00 to $12.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 17.53% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and set a $14.00 price target on shares of Snap in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Snap from $22.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Snap from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. HSBC upgraded shares of Snap from a “reduce” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Snap from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.67.

Snap Stock Up 27.6 %

Shares of NYSE SNAP opened at $14.55 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.86. Snap has a 52-week low of $7.86 and a 52-week high of $17.90. The firm has a market cap of $24.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.96 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 4.39, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.10. Snap had a negative net margin of 26.99% and a negative return on equity of 45.02%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Equities analysts predict that Snap will post -0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 9,386 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.14, for a total transaction of $104,560.04. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 495,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,520,159.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Snap news, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.16, for a total transaction of $210,080.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 461,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,449,840.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 9,386 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.14, for a total transaction of $104,560.04. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 495,526 shares in the company, valued at $5,520,159.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 470,482 shares of company stock valued at $5,284,091. Company insiders own 22.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Snap

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Snap by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 23,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Snap by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 41,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Snap by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 31,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Snap by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 23,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Snap by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares in the last quarter. 47.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.