Covington Capital Management Purchases 8,410 Shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP)

Covington Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP – Get Rating) by 75.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,615 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,410 shares during the period. Covington Capital Management’s holdings in Snap were worth $193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management bought a new position in Snap during the 3rd quarter worth about $303,000. Saba Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Snap in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,439,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Snap by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 5,551 shares in the last quarter. Boit C F David bought a new position in shares of Snap in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Snap in the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,449,000. Institutional investors own 43.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SNAP. JMP Securities cut Snap from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. Credit Suisse Group decreased their price objective on Snap from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Snap from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Snap from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Snap from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.71.

Snap Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of SNAP opened at $10.37 on Wednesday. Snap Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.33 and a 12 month high of $39.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $10.38 and its 200-day moving average is $10.24. The company has a quick ratio of 4.32, a current ratio of 4.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The company reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by $0.02. Snap had a negative net margin of 31.07% and a negative return on equity of 33.20%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. On average, analysts expect that Snap Inc. will post -0.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Snap

In related news, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 5,155 shares of Snap stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.47, for a total value of $43,662.85. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 582,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,934,317.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 5,155 shares of Snap stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.47, for a total value of $43,662.85. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 582,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,934,317.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Derek Andersen sold 10,513 shares of Snap stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.16, for a total transaction of $96,299.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,167,024 shares in the company, valued at $10,689,939.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,216,593 shares of company stock valued at $13,050,687.

Snap Profile

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Snap, Inc operates as a camera company. Its flagship product, Snapchat, is a camera application that helps people communicate visually with friends and family through short videos and images called Snaps. The firm’s primary source of revenue is advertising. Snap was founded by Frank Reginald Brown IV, Evan Thomas Spiegel, and Robert C.