Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Stock Jumps 6% – Still a Buy?

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) traded up 6% on Friday. The company traded as high as $6.22 and last traded at $6.2120. Approximately 13,767,570 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 45,403,359 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on SNAP. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Snap from $6.40 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $7.50 price target on Snap in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of Snap in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Snap from $6.50 to $6.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Snap from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Snap currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.65.

Snap Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.94 and a quick ratio of 2.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.26. The company has a market cap of $10.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.86 and a beta of 1.07.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. Snap’s quarterly revenue was up 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Snap Inc. will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 20,000 shares of Snap stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.35, for a total value of $107,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 578,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,092,861.75. The trade was a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Zachary M. Briers sold 136,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.20, for a total transaction of $709,820.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 2,424,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,606,521.20. This represents a 5.33% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 2,445,926 shares of company stock worth $13,426,930 in the last three months. 22.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Snap

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SNAP. Empyrean Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Snap in the 1st quarter valued at $25,300,000. Saba Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Snap by 232.5% during the 1st quarter. Saba Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,727,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,748,000 after acquiring an additional 3,306,024 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Snap by 44.7% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,535,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401,178 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Snap by 1,191.8% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,903,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,330,000 after purchasing an additional 3,601,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Snap by 7.1% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,160,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,536,000 after purchasing an additional 209,900 shares in the last quarter. 47.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Snap

Snap Inc is a technology and social media company best known for Snapchat, a visual communication platform that enables users to share photos, videos, messages and other content. Snapchat includes features such as Stories, Spotlight for short-form video, Snap Map, augmented reality (AR) Lenses and Bitmoji digital avatars.

The company primarily generates revenue through digital advertising, including advertising formats integrated into Snapchat’s content and communication experiences. Snap also offers subscription services through Snapchat+, develops AR-related products and services, and has introduced hardware products such as Spectacles, smart glasses designed to support augmented reality experiences.

Founded in 2011, the company was initially known as Snapchat Inc and adopted the name Snap Inc in 2016.