Spotify Technology $SPOT Stock Holdings Increased by Bessemer Group Inc.

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. increased its Spotify Technology stake by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, adding 46,753 shares to bring its total to 729,392 shares worth about $423.6 million.
• Spotify continues to attract heavy institutional interest, with about 84.09% of the stock owned by institutional investors. Other major holders including Principal Financial Group and Vanguard also raised their positions.
• Analysts remain generally bullish despite some mixed target-price cuts: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating and a consensus price target of $645.77, while Spotify’s latest earnings beat expectations with EPS of $4.04 on revenue of $5.25 billion.

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 729,392 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 46,753 shares during the quarter. Spotify Technology makes up about 0.7% of Bessemer Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of Spotify Technology worth $423,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Spotify Technology by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 645,196 shares of the company's stock valued at $374,672,000 after purchasing an additional 73,722 shares during the last quarter. Truxt Investmentos Ltda. bought a new position in shares of Spotify Technology during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,093,000. Ownership Capital B.V. bought a new position in shares of Spotify Technology during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,769,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Spotify Technology by 2.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,005,882 shares of the company's stock valued at $702,106,000 after purchasing an additional 24,199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. grew its holdings in shares of Spotify Technology by 2,515.9% during the fourth quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 5,598 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,251,000 after purchasing an additional 5,384 shares during the last quarter. 84.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SPOT shares. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Spotify Technology from $600.00 to $565.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Arete Research raised 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. Moffett Nathanson started coverage on Spotify Technology in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $487.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Spotify Technology from $525.00 to $430.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Spotify Technology in a report on Monday, April 13th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $630.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $645.77.

Spotify Technology Price Performance

Shares of SPOT stock opened at $432.47 on Friday. Spotify Technology has a 12-month low of $405.00 and a 12-month high of $785.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $489.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $531.26.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business 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 company posted $1.07 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Spotify Technology will post 14.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gustav Soderstrom sold 20,833 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.52, for a total value of $9,864,842.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 20,609 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,758,773.68. This represents a 50.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Alex Norstrom sold 5,436 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 69,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,560,425.39. This trade represents a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 47,102 shares of company stock valued at $21,444,648 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Spotify Technology News Summary

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

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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