Snap Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:SNAP)

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 155,956 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 83% compared to the typical daily volume of 85,228 call options.

Snap Price Performance

Shares of SNAP traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $5.92. 45,621,616 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 47,875,355. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a PE ratio of -32.91 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.13. Snap has a fifty-two week low of $3.81 and a fifty-two week high of $9.28. 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 (NYSE:SNAP) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.02. Snap had a negative net margin of 4.90% and a negative return on equity of 14.61%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. Snap’s revenue was up 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Snap will post -0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 17,336 shares of Snap stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.20, for a total transaction of $90,147.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 598,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,110,146. The trade was a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Douglas Hott sold 131,884 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.20, for a total value of $685,796.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,324,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,087,727.60. The trade was a 5.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,770,698 shares of company stock worth $15,345,605.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Snap

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SNAP. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Snap during the third quarter valued at approximately $176,697,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Snap by 874.3% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,066,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,239,000 after acquiring an additional 9,033,644 shares in the last quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Snap in the 1st quarter valued at $25,300,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Snap by 268.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,623,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,968,000 after acquiring an additional 4,098,404 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,601,002 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on SNAP. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Snap from $6.40 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Snap from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $7.50 price target on shares of Snap in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $6.50 price target on shares of Snap in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Evercore set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Snap in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Snap has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.65.

About Snap

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.