Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Snap Inc. $SNAP

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its stake in Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) by 50.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,100,841 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,107,856 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Snap were worth $16,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Snap by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,274,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,454,000 after buying an additional 264,500 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 4,603.7% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,006,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,128,000 after purchasing an additional 2,942,789 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 94.1% in the second quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 2,107,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021,677 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Snap by 3.8% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,635,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,215,000 after purchasing an additional 59,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Snap by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,528,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,280,000 after purchasing an additional 15,192 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on SNAP. New Street Research cut Snap from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Snap from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $7.00 target price on shares of Snap in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Snap in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Snap from $8.70 to $9.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $9.86.

Snap Stock Down 3.0%

NYSE:SNAP opened at $7.53 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 3.67 and a current ratio of 3.67. Snap Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.90 and a fifty-two week high of $11.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.96 and a beta of 0.81.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. Snap had a negative net margin of 8.60% and a negative return on equity of 21.61%. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.09) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Snap Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Derek Andersen sold 23,715 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.83, for a total value of $185,688.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,972,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,271,159.33. This trade represents a 0.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajit Mohan sold 28,137 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.21, for a total value of $202,867.77. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,298,664 shares in the company, valued at $38,203,367.44. This represents a 0.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,396,493 shares of company stock worth $11,195,869. 22.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Snap Company Profile

Snap Inc is a camera and social media company best known for developing and operating Snapchat, a multimedia messaging application that allows users to send photos, videos and messages that disappear after being viewed. In addition to its core messaging service, Snap offers a suite of augmented reality (AR) tools, including custom Lenses and Filters, that enable users and third-party developers to create interactive and immersive experiences. The company also provides advertising solutions that allow brands to engage audiences through Snap Ads, Sponsored Lenses and Discover content on the platform.

Founded in 2011 by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, Snap has continually focused on innovation in camera technology and AR.