Qsemble Capital Management LP Invests $3.25 Million in Spotify Technology $SPOT

Key Points

• Qsemble Capital Management LP opened a new position in Spotify during the fourth quarter, buying 5,592 shares valued at about $3.25 million.
• Spotify is seeing mixed business headlines: it plans to adopt Apple’s HLS video technology for podcasts, which could help creators distribute content more easily, while it also cut Premium Standard prices in India and dropped Premium Lite there.
• Despite recent analyst target cuts, Spotify beat quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $4.04 on revenue of $5.25 billion, though insiders have also been selling shares in recent months.

Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,247,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in Spotify Technology in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Spotify Technology by 3,800.0% during the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 39 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spotify Technology in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Spotify Technology in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Spotify Technology in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.09% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Spotify Technology

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

• Positive Sentiment: Spotify said it will adopt Apple’s HLS video technology for podcasts, a move that should make it easier for creators to distribute and monetize video podcasts across platforms, including Apple Podcasts. That could broaden Spotify-hosted content’s reach and support engagement with creators. TechCrunch article
• Positive Sentiment: Related coverage from multiple outlets emphasized that Spotify’s hosting platforms are adopting Apple’s video podcast technology, reinforcing the idea that the company is improving creator tools and cross-platform publishing. MacRumors article
• Neutral Sentiment: Spotify also cut prices for its Premium Standard tier in India and discontinued Premium Lite there. The move could help subscriber growth in a key market, but it may also pressure average revenue per user, so the overall stock impact is unclear. Moneycontrol article
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP announced an investigation into claims on behalf of Spotify investors, adding a potential legal and headline-risk overhang that can weigh on sentiment. PR Newswire article

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SPOT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Daiwa Securities Group assumed coverage on Spotify Technology in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $535.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Spotify Technology from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Spotify Technology from $640.00 to $580.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Spotify Technology from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on shares of Spotify Technology from $670.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $645.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spotify Technology news, CEO Alex Norstrom sold 5,436 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gustav Soderstrom sold 20,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.52, for a total transaction of $9,864,842.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 20,609 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,758,773.68. The trade was a 50.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,102 shares of company stock worth $21,444,648. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Spotify Technology Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPOT opened at $436.74 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $487.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $530.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.92 billion, a PE ratio of 34.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.55. Spotify Technology has a 12 month low of $405.00 and a 12 month high of $785.00.

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