Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Stock Price Up 4.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP)’s stock price rose 4.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $12.00 to $15.00. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Snap traded as high as $15.33 and last traded at $15.15. Approximately 13,059,674 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 31,847,402 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.49.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Snap in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Snap from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on Snap from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Snap from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Snap from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Snap news, CEO Evan Spiegel sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.35, for a total transaction of $2,152,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,477,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,907,061.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Snap news, CEO Evan Spiegel sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.35, for a total transaction of $2,152,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,477,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,907,061.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 9,386 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.14, for a total value of $104,560.04. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 495,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,520,159.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,607,482 shares of company stock valued at $21,496,511.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Snap

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Snap by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 23,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Snap by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 41,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Snap by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 31,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in Snap by 4.5% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 23,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Snap by 7.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Snap Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $26.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.57 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 4.39, a current ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.99.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Snap had a negative return on equity of 46.62% and a negative net margin of 26.99%. As a group, research analysts predict that Snap Inc. will post -0.58 EPS for the current year.

About Snap

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.