Brokerages Set Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) Target Price at $645.77

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $645.7692.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SPOT shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Spotify Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Spotify Technology from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective (down from $800.00) on shares of Spotify Technology in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Spotify Technology from $670.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Spotify Technology from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th.

Key Headlines Impacting Spotify Technology

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 Price Performance

Spotify Technology stock opened at $436.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $89.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 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 fifty day moving average price of $487.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $530.60.

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

Insider Transactions at Spotify Technology

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

Institutional Trading of Spotify Technology

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. increased its stake in Spotify Technology by 56.3% in the third quarter. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. now owns 7,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,235,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Spotify Technology by 35.1% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 682,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,483,000 after buying an additional 177,310 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Spotify Technology by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 645,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,672,000 after buying an additional 73,722 shares during the last quarter. Truxt Investmentos Ltda. bought a new stake in Spotify Technology during the third quarter worth about $2,093,000. Finally, Ownership Capital B.V. bought a new stake in Spotify Technology during the third quarter worth about $2,769,000. Institutional investors own 84.09% of the company’s stock.

About Spotify Technology

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.