Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Shares Down 4.3% – Here’s What Happened

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) dropped 4.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $5.13 and last traded at $5.1510. Approximately 4,393,104 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 50,457,625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SNAP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Snap from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Snap to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. KeyCorp raised shares of Snap from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Snap from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Snap from $4.50 to $5.25 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.91.

Snap Stock Down 3.3%

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.19. The company has a quick ratio of 3.53, a current ratio of 3.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market cap of $8.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.69 and a beta of 1.03.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.14). Snap had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a negative return on equity of 18.92%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.08) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Snap Inc. will post -0.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Snap

In other news, CFO Douglas Hott sold 124,209 shares of Snap stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.60, for a total transaction of $695,570.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,571,149 shares in the company, valued at $14,398,434.40. This trade represents a 4.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 2,000,000 shares of Snap 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 owned 47,012,324 shares in the company, valued at $255,747,042.56. This represents a 4.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 3,021,330 shares of company stock valued at $16,608,998 in the last three months. 22.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Snap

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Snap by 13.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 40,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 4,754 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Snap in the second quarter worth about $136,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its holdings in Snap by 104.0% in the second quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 61,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 31,357 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new stake in Snap in the second quarter worth about $1,675,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Snap by 52.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 89,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 30,561 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

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.