First Trust Advisors LP Has $1.79 Million Stake in Snap Inc. $SNAP

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) by 302.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 389,736 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 293,003 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Snap were worth $1,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Snap by 92.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services bought a new position in shares of Snap in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Arax Advisory Partners lifted its holdings in Snap by 220.0% in the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 3,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Snap in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Snap by 561.4% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 3,071 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on SNAP. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Snap from $5.00 to $5.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Snap in a research report on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on Snap from $6.40 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. KeyCorp raised Snap from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $6.50 target price on shares of Snap in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Snap currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.65.

Insider Activity

In other Snap news, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 2,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.55, for a total value of $11,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 41,809,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $232,044,340.05. This represents a 4.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Zachary M. Briers sold 129,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.60, for a total value of $725,160.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 2,644,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,809,412.80. This trade represents a 4.67% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,868,059 shares of company stock valued at $26,955,631. Corporate insiders own 22.68% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Snap

Here are the key news stories impacting Snap this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Freedom Capital upgraded Snap from “hold” to “strong-buy,” adding a bullish endorsement following the company’s recent earnings performance. Zacks.com
• Positive Sentiment: Snap’s second-quarter results strengthened hopes for a turnaround. Revenue reached $1.60 billion, ahead of expectations, while the adjusted loss per share was narrower than analysts anticipated; revenue also increased 18.9% year over year. Snap: Strong Q2 Earnings Bolster Hopes Of A Turnaround
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage from Cantor Fitzgerald and Wells Fargo projected meaningful upside for Snap, reinforcing investor optimism that improving operating trends could support further appreciation. Cantor Fitzgerald Forecast Wells Fargo Forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target to $6.75, signaling valuation upside from recent trading levels. Citigroup Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Citizens JMP reiterated a “market perform” rating, suggesting the firm sees balanced risk and reward rather than a decisive near-term catalyst. Citizens JMP Rating
• Negative Sentiment: An analyst downgrade led to an 8.1% decline in Snap shares, highlighting continued sensitivity to cautious Wall Street views despite the strong quarter. Snap Trading Down on Analyst Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Rosenblatt Securities issued a pessimistic forecast, adding to concerns that Snap’s earnings improvement may not yet represent a durable recovery. Rosenblatt Securities Forecast

Snap Stock Performance

NYSE SNAP opened at $5.33 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $4.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.29. Snap Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.81 and a 52-week high of $9.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.94 and a quick ratio of 3.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.58 and a beta of 1.03.

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

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.