Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Stock Price Up 9.3% – Should You Buy?

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP)’s share price shot up 9.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $4.52 and last traded at $4.3950. 27,077,071 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 50,071,074 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $6.50 target price on shares of Snap in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Snap from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Snap from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Snap in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Snap in a report on Thursday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.17.

Snap Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.84 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 3.56 and a current ratio of 3.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.05.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.12). Snap had a negative net margin of 7.76% and a negative return on equity of 20.72%. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.01 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Snap Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Snap news, CFO Derek Andersen sold 92,956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.59, for a total value of $426,668.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 3,799,661 shares in the company, valued at $17,440,443.99. This represents a 2.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ajit Mohan sold 119,339 shares of Snap stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.70, for a total value of $560,893.30. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,158,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,244,841.90. This represents a 2.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,570,641 shares of company stock worth $13,436,343.

Institutional Trading of Snap

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Snap by 92.3% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services bought a new position in shares of Snap during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Arax Advisory Partners raised its position in shares of Snap by 220.0% in the fourth quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 3,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 2,275 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Snap in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Snap by 561.4% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 3,071 shares during the period. 47.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.