Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) Short Interest Update

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 87,300,000 shares, a growth of 34.5% from the December 15th total of 64,920,000 shares. Currently, 8.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 28,960,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Snap news, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 1,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.50, for a total value of $12,500,000.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 57,210,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $715,137,362.50. The trade was a 1.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joanna Coles sold 6,434 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total transaction of $77,208.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 54,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $657,132. This trade represents a 10.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,451,618 shares of company stock valued at $17,560,157.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Snap

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in Snap in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Snap during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Snap during the third quarter worth $30,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Snap in the third quarter valued at $41,000. 47.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Snap Trading Down 5.2 %

Shares of SNAP stock traded down $0.62 on Thursday, hitting $11.23. The stock had a trading volume of 37,608,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,831,879. The company's 50 day moving average price is $11.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.40. Snap has a 1 year low of $8.29 and a 1 year high of $17.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.35 and a beta of 0.98.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Snap had a negative return on equity of 35.60% and a negative net margin of 18.49%. Snap's revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.21) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Snap will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SNAP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Snap from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Snap from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Snap from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $12.11 target price on shares of Snap in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Snap from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.99.

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.

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