Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Snap (NYSE:SNAP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday.

SNAP has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Snap from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $6.40 price target on shares of Snap in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Snap from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Snap in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Snap from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.91.

Snap Price Performance

Shares of Snap stock opened at $6.08 on Friday. Snap has a 52-week low of $3.81 and a 52-week high of $10.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.35 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $5.14 and a 200-day moving average of $6.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 3.56 and a current ratio of 3.56.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.14). Snap had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a negative return on equity of 18.69%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. Snap’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Snap will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 16,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.70, for a total transaction of $77,545.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 466,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,193,405.40. This trade represents a 3.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total transaction of $5,360,000.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 49,313,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $264,321,834. The trade was a 1.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,565,573 shares of company stock worth $8,059,781. 22.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Snap

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Korea Investment CORP boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 573.6% during the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 967,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,460,000 after acquiring an additional 823,900 shares during the last quarter. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Snap during the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,256,000. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 433.6% in the third quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 1,042,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,041,000 after buying an additional 847,447 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 54.4% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 749,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,780,000 after buying an additional 264,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 76.3% in the third quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 628,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,843,000 after buying an additional 271,893 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Snap News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Snap this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results were solid overall, with revenue rising 12% year over year to $1.53 billion and adjusted EBITDA more than doubling, helped by stronger ad demand, user growth, and subscription momentum. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted improving turnaround momentum after the earnings call, suggesting some investors still see operating leverage and engagement trends improving. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Snap continues to be viewed as an AI-enabled advertising and AR play, with recent partnerships such as Qualcomm and Experian supporting the longer-term growth narrative. Article Title

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.