Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Snap from $5.00 to $5.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group set a $6.00 target price on Snap in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Snap from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Snap from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Snap from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research 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-four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Snap has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.65.

Snap Price Performance

SNAP stock opened at $5.59 on Tuesday. Snap has a one year low of $3.81 and a one year high of $9.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $4.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a PE ratio of -31.05 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Snap will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Snap

In other news, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 2,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.55, for a total value of $11,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 41,809,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,044,340.05. This represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ajit Mohan sold 54,608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.20, for a total value of $283,961.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 4,972,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,854,904.40. This represents a 1.09% 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 2,414,795 shares of company stock worth $13,251,460. 22.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SNAP. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Snap during the 2nd quarter worth about $332,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Snap by 268.8% during 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 buying an additional 4,098,404 shares during the last quarter. AlphaGrep UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Snap in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $69,000. AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Snap in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $193,000. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new position in Snap in the second quarter worth approximately $163,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

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.