Empyrean Capital Partners LP Buys Shares of 5,500,000 Snap Inc. $SNAP

Empyrean Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 5,500,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,300,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Snap by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,251,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,100,000 after acquiring an additional 641,271 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Snap by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,452,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,543 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Snap in the 3rd quarter valued at about $176,697,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Snap by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,525,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,711,000 after purchasing an additional 469,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Snap by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 10,300,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,582,223 shares in the last quarter. 47.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Zachary M. Briers sold 129,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.60, for a total value of $725,160.80. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 2,644,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,809,412.80. This trade represents a 4.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Ajit Mohan sold 44,785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.60, for a total transaction of $250,796.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,057,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,324,189.60. This represents a 0.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 2,868,059 shares of company stock valued at $15,855,631 over the last quarter. 22.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SNAP shares. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Snap to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Snap from $7.00 to $5.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Snap from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Snap from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Snap from an “overweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.23.

Snap Stock Performance

NYSE SNAP opened at $4.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.85 and a beta of 1.05. Snap Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.81 and a 1-year high of $9.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 3.53 and a quick ratio of 3.53. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.47.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last issued its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. Snap had a negative return on equity of 18.92% and a negative net margin of 6.72%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.08) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Snap Inc. will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

Snap 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.