Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft Reduces Stock Position in Spotify Technology $SPOT

Key Points

• Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut its Spotify stake by 71.7% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 1,457 shares worth about $846,000.
• Spotify’s latest quarterly results topped expectations, with EPS of $4.04 versus $3.41 expected and revenue of $5.25 billion, up 8.2% year over year.
• Despite the sale, institutional ownership remains high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding about 84.09% of the stock; analysts currently rate Spotify a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $645.77.

Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced its holdings in shares of Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT - Free Report) by 71.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,457 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,700 shares during the quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft's holdings in Spotify Technology were worth $846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Spotify Technology by 35.1% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 682,639 shares of the company's stock valued at $476,483,000 after purchasing an additional 177,310 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Spotify Technology by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 645,196 shares of the company's stock worth $374,672,000 after acquiring an additional 73,722 shares during the last quarter. Truxt Investmentos Ltda. bought a new stake in shares of Spotify Technology in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,093,000. Ownership Capital B.V. bought a new stake in shares of Spotify Technology in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,769,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Spotify Technology by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,005,882 shares of the company's stock worth $702,106,000 after acquiring an additional 24,199 shares during the last quarter. 84.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spotify Technology Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:SPOT opened at $432.47 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $489.44 and a 200 day moving average of $531.26. Spotify Technology has a 52 week low of $405.00 and a 52 week high of $785.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.55.

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $4.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.63. Spotify Technology had a net margin of 15.56% and a return on equity of 35.73%. The company had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Spotify Technology will post 14.87 EPS for the current year.

Trending Headlines about Spotify Technology

Here are the key news stories impacting Spotify Technology this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Spotify said it will adopt Apple’s HLS video streaming technology for podcasts, allowing Spotify-hosted video shows to be distributed and monetized on Apple Podcasts with less friction for creators. That could broaden reach, improve creator tools, and make Spotify’s podcast ecosystem more attractive. TechCrunch article
• Positive Sentiment: The cross-platform video podcast move may help Spotify strengthen engagement and monetize more content across both Spotify and Apple Podcasts, supporting its long-term platform strategy. 9to5Mac article
• Neutral Sentiment: Spotify also cut subscription prices in India and discontinued Premium Lite there, a sign of aggressive international pricing that could help user growth but may pressure near-term revenue per user. Moneycontrol article
• Negative Sentiment: Investor sentiment may also be weighed by the recent Q1 disappointment, with weaker-than-expected premium subscriber additions and advertising revenue, plus a securities investigation tied to those results. Yahoo Finance article

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SPOT shares. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Spotify Technology from $600.00 to $565.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Spotify Technology from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Spotify Technology from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Spotify Technology from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group started coverage on shares of Spotify Technology in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $535.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Spotify Technology has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $645.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Alex Norstrom sold 5,436 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.51, for a total transaction of $2,606,616.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 69,989 shares in the company, valued at $33,560,425.39. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gustav Soderstrom sold 20,833 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.72, for a total transaction of $8,973,189.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 20,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,826,314.24. This represents a 50.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 47,102 shares of company stock valued at $21,444,648 over the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Spotify Technology Company Profile

Spotify Technology is a digital audio streaming company best known for its on-demand music service and a growing portfolio of spoken-word content. Founded in Sweden in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon and launched commercially in 2008, the company offers a cross-platform app that enables users to discover, stream and organize music, podcasts and other audio. Its primary consumer products include a free, ad-supported tier and a paid Spotify Premium subscription that provides ad-free listening, offline playback and higher-quality audio streams.

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