Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . Approximately 29,400,358 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the previous session’s volume of 48,118,363 shares.The stock last traded at $5.1050 and had previously closed at $5.41.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SNAP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $7.50 price target on shares of Snap in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Snap from $6.50 to $6.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Snap in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Snap in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Snap from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.65.

Snap Stock Down 2.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $8.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.30 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.94 and a quick ratio of 2.94.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.02. Snap had a negative return on equity of 14.61% and a negative net margin of 4.90%.The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.16) EPS. Snap’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Snap Inc. will post -0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Douglas Hott sold 114,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.67, for a total transaction of $650,360.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,456,447 shares in the company, valued at $13,928,054.49. This represents a 4.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Ajit Mohan sold 6,923 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.58, for a total transaction of $38,630.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,050,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,184,401.44. This represents a 0.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 2,552,843 shares of company stock worth $14,310,421 over the last ninety days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Snap

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Snap by 13.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 40,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 4,754 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Snap during the 2nd quarter valued at about $136,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 104.0% during the 2nd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 61,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,000 after acquiring an additional 31,357 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in shares of Snap in the second quarter worth approximately $1,675,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 30,561 shares during the period. 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.