Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Shares Down 4.2% - What's Next?

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report) shares were down 4.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $11.29 and last traded at $11.34. Approximately 10,056,211 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 27,943,342 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SNAP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Snap in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Snap from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Snap from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Snap from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Snap in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.99.

Snap Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $18.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.72 and a beta of 0.98. 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 50 day moving average price of $11.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.36.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. The business 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.21) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Snap Inc. will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Snap

In related news, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 1,000,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.50, for a total transaction of $12,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 57,210,989 shares in the company, valued at $715,137,362.50. The trade was a 1.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Derek Andersen sold 94,164 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.44, for a total transaction of $1,077,236.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,193,806 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,140.64. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,451,618 shares of company stock valued at $17,560,157. Insiders own 22.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Snap

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Snap by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,187 shares of the company's stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 1,513 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Snap during the 4th quarter worth $788,000. RDA Financial Network acquired a new position in Snap in the fourth quarter valued at $123,000. HCR Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Snap by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 25,016 shares of the company's stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 934 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Snap by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,086,741 shares of the company's stock worth $33,244,000 after buying an additional 1,050,501 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.