AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Sells 19,502 Shares of Spotify Technology $SPOT

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd decreased its position in Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) by 29.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 46,127 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,502 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Spotify Technology were worth $26,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SPOT. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in Spotify Technology in the third quarter worth $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. lifted its position in Spotify Technology by 3,800.0% during the 3rd quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 39 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Westfuller Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Spotify Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Spotify Technology during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Spotify Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 84.09% of the company’s stock.

Spotify Technology Stock Performance

NYSE:SPOT opened at $436.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $89.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.55. Spotify Technology has a fifty-two week low of $405.00 and a fifty-two week high of $785.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $487.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $530.60.

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $4.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.63. Spotify Technology had a net margin of 15.56% and a return on equity of 35.73%. The company had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Spotify Technology will post 14.87 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Alex Norstrom sold 5,436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.51, for a total transaction of $2,606,616.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 69,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,560,425.39. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gustav Soderstrom sold 20,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.52, for a total value of $9,864,842.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 20,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,758,773.68. The trade was a 50.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,102 shares of company stock worth $21,444,648. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Spotify Technology from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Arete Research raised Spotify Technology from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Spotify Technology from $760.00 to $735.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on Spotify Technology from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their target price on Spotify Technology from $600.00 to $565.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $645.77.

Spotify Technology News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Spotify Technology this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Spotify said it will adopt Apple’s HLS video technology for podcasts, a move that should make it easier for creators to distribute and monetize video podcasts across platforms, including Apple Podcasts. That could broaden Spotify-hosted content’s reach and support engagement with creators. TechCrunch article
• Positive Sentiment: Related coverage from multiple outlets emphasized that Spotify’s hosting platforms are adopting Apple’s video podcast technology, reinforcing the idea that the company is improving creator tools and cross-platform publishing. MacRumors article
• Neutral Sentiment: Spotify also cut prices for its Premium Standard tier in India and discontinued Premium Lite there. The move could help subscriber growth in a key market, but it may also pressure average revenue per user, so the overall stock impact is unclear. Moneycontrol article
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP announced an investigation into claims on behalf of Spotify investors, adding a potential legal and headline-risk overhang that can weigh on sentiment. PR Newswire article

Spotify Technology Company 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.