Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Sells 63,257 Shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP)

Key Points

• Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. reduced its stake in Snap Inc. by 5.5%, now holding 1,085,611 shares valued at approximately $9.46 million.
• Snap reported a net loss of $0.08 per share in its latest earnings, missing expectations, although revenue rose 14.1% year-over-year.
• Brokerages have mixed sentiments with recent price targets for Snap ranging from $7.00 to $13.00, resulting in a consensus rating of "Hold."

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP - Free Report) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,085,611 shares of the company's stock after selling 63,257 shares during the quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. owned about 0.06% of Snap worth $9,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors bought a new stake in shares of Snap in the 4th quarter worth approximately $422,049,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Snap by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 84,137,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $906,161,000 after acquiring an additional 23,569,522 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Snap by 121.9% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,848,370 shares of the company's stock worth $59,649,000 after purchasing an additional 3,761,629 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Snap during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,162,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Snap during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,713,000. 47.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Snap news, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 9,202 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.59, for a total transaction of $79,045.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 448,881 shares in the company, valued at $3,855,887.79. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajit Mohan sold 28,201 shares of Snap stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.40, for a total transaction of $265,089.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,676,293 shares in the company, valued at $53,357,154.20. This trade represents a 0.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,667,802 shares of company stock worth $13,799,881 in the last three months.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SNAP shares. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Snap from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Snap from $8.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Snap from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $10.00 target price (up from $9.00) on shares of Snap in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Snap from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.95.

Snap Price Performance

NYSE:SNAP traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $9.70. 51,258,444 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,138,560. Snap Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.08 and a twelve month high of $13.95. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $8.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.26. The company has a quick ratio of 4.30, a current ratio of 4.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.04 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. Snap had a negative return on equity of 21.53% and a negative net margin of 9.63%. The firm's revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Snap Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal 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.