Spotify Technology $SPOT Position Boosted by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Key Points

• Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its Spotify Technology stake by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 54,737 additional shares and bringing its total to 489,126 shares worth about $284 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted their positions in SPOT, and the stock remains heavily owned by institutions at 84.09% of shares outstanding.
• Spotify recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.04 versus $3.41 expected and revenue of $5.25 billion, though analyst price targets have mostly been trimmed and the stock has faced some pressure from weaker Q1 sentiment and insider selling.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT - Free Report) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 489,126 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 54,737 shares during the quarter. Spotify Technology comprises 0.5% of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.24% of Spotify Technology worth $284,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SPOT. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Spotify Technology by 40.7% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,730,713 shares of the company's stock worth $1,906,260,000 after purchasing an additional 789,755 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in Spotify Technology in the third quarter worth approximately $512,190,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Spotify Technology by 3,534.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 571,474 shares of the company's stock worth $398,889,000 after purchasing an additional 555,752 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Spotify Technology by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,616,321 shares of the company's stock worth $938,614,000 after purchasing an additional 444,162 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Spotify Technology by 157.5% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 699,930 shares of the company's stock worth $488,551,000 after purchasing an additional 428,156 shares during the period. 84.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Spotify Technology News

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SPOT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Spotify Technology from $525.00 to $430.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on Spotify Technology from $670.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Spotify Technology from $640.00 to $580.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Spotify Technology from $600.00 to $565.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Pivotal Research cut their target price on Spotify Technology from $420.00 to $400.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two investment 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spotify Technology currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $645.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Alex Norstrom sold 5,436 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was 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 owned 69,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,560,425.39. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gustav Soderstrom sold 20,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.72, for a total value 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 trade represents a 50.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Spotify Technology Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPOT opened at $432.47 on Friday. Spotify Technology has a one year low of $405.00 and a one year high of $785.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $489.44 and a 200-day moving average of $531.26. The company has a market capitalization of $89.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.55.

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 35.73% and a net margin of 15.56%.The company had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Spotify Technology will post 14.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SPOT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.