Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 14,116 Shares of Spotify Technology $SPOT

Key Points

• Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its Spotify stake by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 14,116 shares and leaving it with 160,592 shares worth about $93.3 million.
• Insiders have been selling stock as well, including CEO Gustav Soderstrom and CEO Alex Norstrom; over the last three months, insiders sold 47,102 shares worth $21.4 million.
• Analysts remain mostly positive on Spotify despite some lower price targets, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $645.77. The company also beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $4.04 per share on $5.25 billion in revenue.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its position in Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT - Free Report) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 160,592 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,116 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.08% of Spotify Technology worth $93,257,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Spotify Technology by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,622,298 shares of the company's stock worth $3,226,364,000 after buying an additional 48,070 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Spotify Technology by 40.7% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,730,713 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,906,260,000 after purchasing an additional 789,755 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Spotify Technology by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,602,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,816,632,000 after purchasing an additional 113,612 shares in the last quarter. Coatue Management LLC lifted its position in Spotify Technology by 13.3% during the third quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 1,803,173 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,258,615,000 after purchasing an additional 212,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in Spotify Technology by 37.9% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,616,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $938,614,000 after purchasing an additional 444,162 shares in the last quarter. 84.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Spotify Technology

In other Spotify Technology news, CEO Gustav Soderstrom sold 20,833 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.72, for a total transaction of $8,973,189.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 20,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,826,314.24. The trade was a 50.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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. Also, CEO Alex Norstrom sold 5,436 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.51, for a total value of $2,606,616.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 69,989 shares in the company, valued at $33,560,425.39. The trade was a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 47,102 shares of company stock worth $21,444,648 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SPOT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Spotify Technology from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Spotify Technology from $760.00 to $735.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Daiwa Securities Group began coverage on Spotify Technology in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $535.00 price target on the stock. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price target (down from $800.00) on shares of Spotify Technology in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Spotify Technology from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $645.77.

Spotify Technology Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SPOT opened at $444.28 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day moving average is $485.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $528.22. Spotify Technology has a 1-year low of $405.00 and a 1-year high of $785.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.55.

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $4.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.63. Spotify Technology had a return on equity of 35.73% and a net margin of 15.56%.The company had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Spotify Technology will post 14.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spotify Technology 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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