Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Upgraded by Arete Research to Strong-Buy Rating

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

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. B.Riley Securit upgraded shares of Snap from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group set a $7.30 price target on shares of Snap in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Snap from $9.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Snap in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. They set a “strong sell” rating for the company. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $6.50 price objective on shares of Snap in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.63.

Snap Price Performance

NYSE SNAP opened at $5.24 on Tuesday. Snap has a 12 month low of $5.09 and a 12 month high of $11.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 3.56 and a quick ratio of 3.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a PE ratio of -19.41 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $7.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.74.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.12). Snap had a negative return on equity of 20.72% and a negative net margin of 7.76%.The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Snap will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Snap

In other Snap news, CFO Derek Andersen sold 23,715 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.83, for a total value of $185,688.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,972,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,271,159.33. The trade was a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 3,783 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.34, for a total transaction of $27,767.22. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 483,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,546,548.54. This trade represents a 0.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,393,341 shares of company stock worth $13,799,210.

Institutional Trading of Snap

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SNAP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Snap by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,251,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,100,000 after purchasing an additional 641,271 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Snap by 1.5% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 87,272,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,896,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316,448 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Snap by 0.3% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,780,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,285,000 after acquiring an additional 95,989 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Snap during the 3rd quarter valued at $176,697,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Snap by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,525,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,711,000 after purchasing an additional 469,795 shares during the last quarter. 47.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.