UBS Group Has Lowered Expectations for Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Stock Price

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) had its price objective cut by equities researchers at UBS Group from $7.00 to $6.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. UBS Group‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 20.70% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Snap from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Snap in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Snap in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Snap from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Snap from $16.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.31.

Snap Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE SNAP traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $4.97. The stock had a trading volume of 40,528,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,171,368. The firm has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -55.23 and a beta of 1.23. Snap has a twelve month low of $3.81 and a twelve month high of $9.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a current ratio of 2.94. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $5.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.40.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter. Snap had a negative net margin of 4.90% and a negative return on equity of 14.61%. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.06) earnings per share. Snap’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Snap will post -0.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Snap

In other news, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.35, for a total transaction of $107,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 578,105 shares in the company, valued at $3,092,861.75. The trade was a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajit Mohan sold 54,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.20, for a total value of $283,961.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,972,097 shares in the company, valued at $25,854,904.40. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 445,926 shares of company stock worth $2,326,930 in the last three months. Insiders own 22.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Saba Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Snap by 232.5% in the 1st quarter. Saba Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,727,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,748,000 after acquiring an additional 3,306,024 shares in the last quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in Snap during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,300,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Snap by 1,191.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,903,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,330,000 after purchasing an additional 3,601,002 shares in the last quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Snap by 540.0% during the 3rd quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 544,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 459,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Snap by 302.9% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 389,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 293,003 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

More Snap News

Here are the key news stories impacting Snap this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Snap returned to net profitability and beat adjusted earnings expectations. Its 30 million paid subscribers also point to growing subscription revenue and a potential complement to advertising. Article: Snap Shares Fall More Than 10% as Revenue and User Growth Miss Forecasts Despite Higher Earnings Article: Snap Q3: The Potential Is There – The Conviction Isn’t
• Neutral Sentiment: Traders bought a high volume of Snap call options, suggesting some are positioning for a rebound; options activity is not a reliable indication of future performance. Article: Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Snap
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue rose 14% year over year to $1.72 billion but missed estimates, while daily active users also came in below expectations. The shortfalls raised concerns about the pace of Snap’s advertising recovery and overshadowed its earnings improvement. Article: Snap shares fall 13% as revenue and daily users miss estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Several analysts cut price targets, reinforcing a more cautious outlook: Citigroup and UBS lowered targets to $6 and kept neutral ratings; JPMorgan cut its target to $5 and maintained an underweight rating; Cantor Fitzgerald lowered its target to $5 and stayed neutral. Barclays also halved its target to $8, though it retained an overweight rating. Citigroup ratings UBS ratings JPMorgan ratings
• Negative Sentiment: Snap also announced a change in how it measures user engagement, which may complicate comparisons with prior periods as investors assess user trends. Article: Snap tumbles on revenue, user growth miss; announces metric shift

Snap Company Profile

Snap Inc is a technology and social media company best known for Snapchat, a visual messaging and social networking application. Snapchat enables users to communicate through photos, videos, messages and Stories, while offering creative tools such as augmented reality (AR) Lenses and filters. The platform also includes features such as Snap Map, Spotlight and content from publishers and creators.

Snap generates most of its revenue from digital advertising, including video, augmented reality and other advertising formats delivered across Snapchat.