Snap (NYSE:SNAP) General Counsel Sells $709,820.80 in Stock

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) General Counsel Zachary Briers sold 136,504 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.20, for a total transaction of $709,820.80. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 2,424,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,606,521.20. The trade was a 5.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Snap Price Performance

NYSE:SNAP opened at $5.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. Snap Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.81 and a 52 week high of $9.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $4.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a PE ratio of -29.11 and a beta of 1.03.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Snap had a negative return on equity of 14.61% and a negative net margin of 4.90%.Snap’s quarterly revenue was up 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.16) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Snap Inc. will post -0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Snap

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Snap during the third quarter worth approximately $176,697,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Snap by 874.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,066,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,239,000 after purchasing an additional 9,033,644 shares during the last quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in Snap in the 1st quarter valued at $25,300,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Snap by 1,191.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,903,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,330,000 after purchasing an additional 3,601,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Snap by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 10,300,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,582,223 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SNAP. Guggenheim increased their target price on Snap from $5.00 to $5.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Snap from $6.50 to $6.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Snap in a research report on Monday, April 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Snap in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Snap in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.65.

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.