Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirty-three ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twenty-five have assigned a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $36.87.

SNAP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Snap from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Snap from $14.00 to $14.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Snap from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Snap from $13.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Snap in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

Snap Price Performance

Shares of SNAP stock opened at $10.79 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a current ratio of 3.95. The stock has a market cap of $18.30 billion, a PE ratio of -25.68 and a beta of 0.99. Snap has a 52-week low of $8.29 and a 52-week high of $17.33.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.13). Snap had a negative return on equity of 25.67% and a negative net margin of 13.02%. As a group, analysts forecast that Snap will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Snap

In related news, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 32,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.42, for a total value of $397,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 433,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,378,654.88. This trade represents a 6.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.89, for a total transaction of $214,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 464,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,517,067.01. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 258,029 shares of company stock worth $2,991,695.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Snap by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 84,137,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $906,161,000 after acquiring an additional 23,569,522 shares in the last quarter. SRS Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Snap by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. SRS Investment Management LLC now owns 73,723,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,998,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001,632 shares during the period. Capital International Investors bought a new position in shares of Snap in the 4th quarter worth $422,049,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Snap by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,831,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,078,000 after buying an additional 134,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Snap by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,075,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,201,000 after purchasing an additional 828,285 shares in the last quarter. 47.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.