Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Earns Sector Perform Rating from Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “Sector Perform” rating on Snap, with an $8.00 price target implying approximately 35.4% upside from the stock’s $5.91 price. Analysts overall maintain a “Hold” consensus with an average target of $7.65.
• Snap’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations: adjusted loss per share was $0.10 versus the $0.12 consensus loss, while revenue reached $1.60 billion, up 18.9% year over year.
• Insiders sold 2.44 million Snap shares worth about $13.4 million over the past three months, including a 2 million-share sale by CTO Robert Murphy. Institutional investors own 47.52% of the company.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sector perform" rating restated by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $8.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price objective suggests a potential upside of 35.43% from the company's current price.

Several other research analysts have also commented on SNAP. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Snap from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $7.50 target price on shares of Snap in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Snap from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Snap from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Snap from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $7.65.

Snap Stock Up 3.3%

SNAP opened at $5.91 on Thursday. Snap has a twelve month low of $3.81 and a twelve month high of $9.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $5.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.19. The company has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a PE ratio of -32.55 and a beta of 1.05.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Snap had a negative net margin of 4.90% and a negative return on equity of 14.61%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Snap will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Snap

In other news, CTO Robert Murphy sold 2,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.55, for a total value of $11,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 41,809,791 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $232,044,340.05. This represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajit Mohan sold 54,608 shares of the company'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 value of $283,961.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 4,972,097 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,854,904.40. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 2,439,129 shares of company stock worth $13,387,372 in the last three months. Company insiders own 22.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,071 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new stake in Snap in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Snap by 6,678.0% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,778 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 6,678 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of Snap by 62.8% during the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 7,836 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 3,024 shares during the period. Finally, NFSG Corp increased its holdings in shares of Snap by 52.7% in the 1st quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 8,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. 47.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Snap Company Profile

Snap Inc is a technology and social media company best known for Snapchat, a visual messaging and social networking application. Snapchat enables users to communicate through photos, videos, text messages and augmented reality experiences, including Lenses and filters. The platform also offers Stories, Spotlight for short-form video, Snap Map and other tools for discovering and sharing content.

Snap generates most of its business through digital advertising, including advertising displayed across Snapchat's content and communication features.

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