Snap (NYSE:SNAP) CTO Robert Murphy Sells 2,000,000 Shares of Stock

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) CTO Robert Murphy sold 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.44, for a total transaction of $10,880,000.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 47,012,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $255,747,042.56. This trade represents a 4.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Snap Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of SNAP opened at $5.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 3.53 and a quick ratio of 3.56. Snap Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.81 and a 1 year high of $10.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.50. The firm has a market cap of $9.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.02 and a beta of 1.05.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. Snap had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a negative return on equity of 18.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.08) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Snap Inc. will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SNAP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upgraded Snap from an “overweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $6.50 target price on shares of Snap in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Citigroup increased their target price on Snap from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Snap from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upgraded Snap from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.91.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Snap

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SNAP. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Snap during the third quarter valued at $176,697,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Snap by 874.3% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,066,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,239,000 after buying an additional 9,033,644 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Snap during the third quarter valued at $29,071,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Snap by 53.3% during the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 10,300,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,420,000 after buying an additional 3,582,223 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Snap by 537.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,150,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,492,000 after buying an additional 3,499,578 shares during the period. 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.