Handelsbanken Fonder AB Reduces Position in Spotify Technology $SPOT

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its holdings in shares of Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 160,592 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,116 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Spotify Technology were worth $93,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in shares of Spotify Technology during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Spotify Technology by 3,800.0% in the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 39 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Westfuller Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spotify Technology in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Spotify Technology in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spotify Technology in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.09% of the company’s stock.

Spotify Technology Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of SPOT opened at $444.28 on Tuesday. Spotify Technology has a 12 month low of $405.00 and a 12 month high of $785.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $485.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $528.22. The firm has a market cap of $91.47 billion, a PE ratio of 35.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.55.

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $4.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.63. Spotify Technology had a return on equity of 35.73% and a net margin of 15.56%.The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Spotify Technology will post 14.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spotify Technology

In other news, CEO Gustav Soderstrom sold 20,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.72, for a total transaction of $8,973,189.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 20,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,826,314.24. This represents a 50.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Alex Norstrom sold 5,436 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.51, for a total value of $2,606,616.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 69,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,560,425.39. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,102 shares of company stock valued at $21,444,648. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SPOT shares. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price target (down from $800.00) on shares of Spotify Technology in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Spotify Technology from $525.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Benchmark lowered their target price on Spotify Technology from $760.00 to $695.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Spotify Technology from $750.00 to $720.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Spotify Technology from $760.00 to $735.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.77.

Spotify Technology Profile

Spotify Technology is a digital audio streaming company best known for its on-demand music service and a growing portfolio of spoken-word content. Founded in Sweden in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon and launched commercially in 2008, the company offers a cross-platform app that enables users to discover, stream and organize music, podcasts and other audio. Its primary consumer products include a free, ad-supported tier and a paid Spotify Premium subscription that provides ad-free listening, offline playback and higher-quality audio streams.