Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 44,838 Shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its holdings in Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) by 61.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 28,457 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,838 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Snap were worth $306,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Snap by 141.9% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,632 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in Snap in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Snap in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Snap by 136.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Snap in the third quarter valued at about $81,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Snap

In related news, SVP Eric Young sold 102,152 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.84, for a total value of $1,107,327.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,443,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,326,661.96. This represents a 2.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.84, for a total value of $195,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 498,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,403,718.32. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 499,471 shares of company stock worth $5,608,926 over the last quarter. 22.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SNAP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Snap from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Snap from $14.00 to $14.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Snap from $13.00 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Snap from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on Snap from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.87.

Snap Stock Performance

NYSE:SNAP opened at $10.35 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $11.19 and a 200 day moving average of $10.75. The company has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.63 and a beta of 0.99. Snap Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.29 and a 1-year high of $17.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 3.95 and a quick ratio of 3.95.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.