Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Sees Strong Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 24,395,103 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the previous session’s volume of 25,392,574 shares.The stock last traded at $9.42 and had previously closed at $9.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SNAP. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Snap from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Snap from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $15.00 to $11.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim downgraded Snap from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Snap from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Snap in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.87.

Snap Trading Up 1.1 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.77. The firm has a market cap of $15.83 billion, a PE ratio of -22.22 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 3.95, a current ratio of 3.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.13). Snap had a negative return on equity of 25.67% and a negative net margin of 13.02%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Snap Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Snap

In other news, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 14,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.83, for a total value of $125,235.89. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 2,256,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,921,371.83. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Young sold 102,152 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.84, for a total value of $1,107,327.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,443,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,326,661.96. This represents a 2.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,350,523 shares of company stock worth $12,698,797 in the last quarter. 22.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Snap by 62.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,211,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,462,000 after acquiring an additional 2,386,519 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Snap during the 3rd quarter worth $2,349,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Snap by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,639,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,245,000 after buying an additional 879,212 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC purchased a new stake in Snap in the fourth quarter valued at about $289,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Snap in the third quarter worth about $3,436,000. 47.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Snap Company Profile

Snap Inc operates as a technology company in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers Snapchat, a visual messaging application with various tabs, such as camera, visual messaging, snap map, stories, and spotlight that enable people to communicate visually through short videos and images.