Renaissance Technologies LLC Invests $27.71 Million in Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP)

Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,573,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,713,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SNAP. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 31,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Snap by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 25,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Snap by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 35,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in Snap by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 142,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC increased its position in shares of Snap by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 17,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Snap Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Snap stock opened at $7.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a current ratio of 3.95. Snap Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.08 and a fifty-two week high of $17.33. The company has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.01 and a beta of 0.92.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.13). Snap had a negative return on equity of 25.67% and a negative net margin of 13.02%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Snap Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SNAP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective (down previously from $18.00) on shares of Snap in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Snap from $14.50 to $10.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Snap from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Snap from $13.00 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Snap from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-four have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.32.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Derek Andersen sold 22,720 shares of Snap stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.58, for a total value of $194,937.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 3,541,515 shares in the company, valued at $30,386,198.70. This trade represents a 0.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.04, for a total transaction of $9,040,000.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 55,818,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $504,599,673.92. This represents a 1.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,356,523 shares of company stock worth $12,710,077 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 22.68% of the company’s stock.

Snap Profile

Snap Inc operates as a technology company in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers Snapchat, a visual messaging application with various tabs, such as camera, visual messaging, snap map, stories, and spotlight that enable people to communicate visually through short videos and images.