8,560 Shares in Spotify Technology $SPOT Bought by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPOT. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Spotify Technology by 40.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,730,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,906,260,000 after buying an additional 789,755 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in Spotify Technology in the 3rd quarter worth $512,190,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Spotify Technology by 3,534.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 571,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,889,000 after buying an additional 555,752 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Spotify Technology by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,616,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $938,614,000 after buying an additional 444,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Spotify Technology by 157.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 699,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,551,000 after buying an additional 428,156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.09% of the company’s stock.

Spotify Technology Stock Performance

Shares of Spotify Technology stock opened at $432.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $89.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $489.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $531.26. Spotify Technology has a 1 year low of $405.00 and a 1 year high of $785.00.

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $4.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.23 billion. Spotify Technology had a net margin of 15.56% and a return on equity of 35.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Spotify Technology will post 14.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Spotify Technology

In other news, CEO Alex Norstrom sold 5,436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.51, for a total value of $2,606,616.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 69,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,560,425.39. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gustav Soderstrom sold 20,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.72, for a total transaction of $8,973,189.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 20,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,826,314.24. This trade represents a 50.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,102 shares of company stock worth $21,444,648. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Spotify Technology

Here are the key news stories impacting Spotify Technology this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Spotify said it will adopt Apple’s HLS video streaming technology for podcasts, allowing Spotify-hosted video shows to be distributed and monetized on Apple Podcasts with less friction for creators. That could broaden reach, improve creator tools, and make Spotify’s podcast ecosystem more attractive. TechCrunch article
• Positive Sentiment: The cross-platform video podcast move may help Spotify strengthen engagement and monetize more content across both Spotify and Apple Podcasts, supporting its long-term platform strategy. 9to5Mac article
• Neutral Sentiment: Spotify also cut subscription prices in India and discontinued Premium Lite there, a sign of aggressive international pricing that could help user growth but may pressure near-term revenue per user. Moneycontrol article
• Negative Sentiment: Investor sentiment may also be weighed by the recent Q1 disappointment, with weaker-than-expected premium subscriber additions and advertising revenue, plus a securities investigation tied to those results. Yahoo Finance article

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SPOT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Spotify Technology from $670.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Spotify Technology from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Spotify Technology from $745.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on shares of Spotify Technology in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $487.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Spotify Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $645.77.

Spotify Technology Company Profile

Spotify Technology is a digital audio streaming company best known for its on-demand music service and a growing portfolio of spoken-word content. Founded in Sweden in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon and launched commercially in 2008, the company offers a cross-platform app that enables users to discover, stream and organize music, podcasts and other audio. Its primary consumer products include a free, ad-supported tier and a paid Spotify Premium subscription that provides ad-free listening, offline playback and higher-quality audio streams.