Snap Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:SNAP)

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 222,358 call options on the company. This is an increase of 55% compared to the typical volume of 143,139 call options.

Snap Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of SNAP stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.92. 105,142,763 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 49,201,227. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.90. Snap has a twelve month low of $5.86 and a twelve month high of $11.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.41 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 3.67 and a current ratio of 3.67.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Snap had a negative return on equity of 21.61% and a negative net margin of 8.60%. As a group, analysts forecast that Snap will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Snap

In related news, CFO Derek Andersen sold 23,715 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.83, for a total transaction of $185,688.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,972,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,271,159.33. This trade represents a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ajit Mohan sold 20,848 shares of Snap stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.62, for a total transaction of $158,861.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,277,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,216,957.92. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 1,393,341 shares of company stock valued at $11,169,210 over the last 90 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Snap by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,251,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $817,100,000 after purchasing an additional 641,271 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Snap by 1.5% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 87,272,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,896,000 after buying an additional 1,316,448 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Snap by 0.3% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,780,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,285,000 after acquiring an additional 95,989 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Snap during the third quarter valued at approximately $176,697,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Snap by 53.3% in the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 10,300,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,582,223 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SNAP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. New Street Research cut Snap from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Snap from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Snap from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Snap in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Snap from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $9.83.

About Snap

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.