Wall Street Zen Upgrades Snap (NYSE:SNAP) to Buy
by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat GemSnap (NYSE:SNAP – Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.
SNAP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Snap from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Snap in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Snap from $6.40 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Snap in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Snap from $5.00 to $5.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.31.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Snap
Snap Trading Up 0.2%
Shares of SNAP stock opened at $4.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company has a 50 day moving average of $5.75 and a 200-day moving average of $5.40. Snap has a 12-month low of $3.81 and a 12-month high of $9.13. The firm has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -55.23 and a beta of 1.23.
Snap (NYSE:SNAP – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Snap had a negative return on equity of 7.10% and a negative net margin of 2.30%. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Snap will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current year.
Insider Transactions at Snap
In related news, insider Ajit Mohan sold 54,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.20, for a total value of $283,961.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,972,097 shares in the company, valued at $25,854,904.40. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Douglas Hott sold 131,884 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.20, for a total transaction of $685,796.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,324,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,087,727.60. This trade represents a 5.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders sold 445,926 shares of company stock worth $2,326,930.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SNAP. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Snap by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,228,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,765,000 after buying an additional 375,301 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Snap during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $197,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Snap in the third quarter worth $130,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Snap in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Snap by 21.3% during the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 158,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $856,000 after purchasing an additional 27,797 shares in the last quarter. 47.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Key Stories Impacting Snap
Here are the key news stories impacting Snap this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Snap returned to net profitability and beat adjusted earnings expectations. Its 30 million paid subscribers also point to growing subscription revenue and a potential complement to advertising. Article: Snap Shares Fall More Than 10% as Revenue and User Growth Miss Forecasts Despite Higher Earnings Article: Snap Q3: The Potential Is There – The Conviction Isn’t
- Neutral Sentiment: Traders bought a high volume of Snap call options, suggesting some are positioning for a rebound; options activity is not a reliable indication of future performance. Article: Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Snap
- Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue rose 14% year over year to $1.72 billion but missed estimates, while daily active users also came in below expectations. The shortfalls raised concerns about the pace of Snap’s advertising recovery and overshadowed its earnings improvement. Article: Snap shares fall 13% as revenue and daily users miss estimates
- Negative Sentiment: Several analysts cut price targets, reinforcing a more cautious outlook: Citigroup and UBS lowered targets to $6 and kept neutral ratings; JPMorgan cut its target to $5 and maintained an underweight rating; Cantor Fitzgerald lowered its target to $5 and stayed neutral. Barclays also halved its target to $8, though it retained an overweight rating. Citigroup ratings UBS ratings JPMorgan ratings
- Negative Sentiment: Snap also announced a change in how it measures user engagement, which may complicate comparisons with prior periods as investors assess user trends. Article: Snap tumbles on revenue, user growth miss; announces metric shift
About Snap
Snap Inc is a technology company best known for Snapchat, a mobile application for visual communication. The company’s products and services help people share photos and videos, message friends, and explore content from creators and publishers.
Snapchat features include Stories, Spotlight for short-form video, Snap Map, and augmented reality tools such as interactive Lenses. Snap also provides advertising solutions to businesses and develops camera-related products and services, including its Spectacles smart glasses and Snap AR platform.
Founded in 2011, Snap is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and serves users and advertisers in markets around the world.
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