Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Spotify Technology $SPOT

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) by 20.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 860,826 shares of the company’s stock after selling 224,176 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Spotify Technology were worth $499,890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SPOT. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spotify Technology by 481.3% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 279 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Spotify Technology during the fourth quarter worth $347,000. Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in Spotify Technology by 99.3% in the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 23,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,695,000 after purchasing an additional 11,749 shares during the period. CNB Bank raised its position in Spotify Technology by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Spotify Technology by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,863,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,663,024,000 after purchasing an additional 133,108 shares during the last quarter. 84.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spotify Technology Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPOT opened at $503.57 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $481.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $513.25. Spotify Technology has a 1 year low of $405.00 and a 1 year high of $785.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.67 billion, a PE ratio of 40.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.56.

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $4.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.63. Spotify Technology had a net margin of 15.56% and a return on equity of 35.73%. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Spotify Technology will post 14.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spotify Technology

In related news, Director Christopher P. Marshall sold 2,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.86, for a total transaction of $1,377,629.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,099,714.54. The trade was a 39.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gustav Soderstrom sold 20,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.52, for a total value of $10,344,001.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 20,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,117,091.52. This trade represents a 50.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 111,442 shares of company stock valued at $54,647,508. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SPOT. Pivotal Research cut their price objective on Spotify Technology from $420.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Spotify Technology from $430.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Spotify Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased 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. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Spotify Technology from $500.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $655.92.

Spotify Technology 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.