Styrax Capital LP Sells 96,811 Shares of Spotify Technology $SPOT

Key Points

• Styrax Capital LP reduced its Spotify stake by 46.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 96,811 shares and leaving it with 113,242 shares worth about $65.8 million.
• Spotify’s latest quarterly results topped expectations, with EPS of $4.04 versus $3.41 expected and revenue of $5.25 billion, up 8.2% year over year.
• Wall Street remains mostly bullish on Spotify, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $652.16 despite some mixed analyst target changes.

Styrax Capital LP cut its holdings in Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT - Free Report) by 46.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 113,242 shares of the company's stock after selling 96,811 shares during the quarter. Spotify Technology comprises approximately 5.0% of Styrax Capital LP's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Styrax Capital LP owned about 0.06% of Spotify Technology worth $65,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Spotify Technology by 12.9% in 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Spotify Technology by 2.5% in 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 period. City Holding Co. increased its stake in Spotify Technology by 2,515.9% in 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 period. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Spotify Technology by 8.2% in the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 80,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,039,000 after purchasing an additional 6,100 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Spotify Technology by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,602,625 shares of the company's stock worth $1,816,632,000 after acquiring an additional 113,612 shares during the period. 84.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spotify Technology Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SPOT opened at $470.81 on Wednesday. Spotify Technology has a 12-month low of $405.00 and a 12-month high of $785.00. The company has a market capitalization of $96.93 billion, a PE ratio of 37.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.56. The firm's 50-day moving average is $482.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $508.74.

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $4.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.63. Spotify Technology had a net margin of 15.56% and a return on equity of 35.73%. The company had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Spotify Technology will post 14.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SPOT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Daiwa Securities Group initiated coverage on shares of Spotify Technology in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $535.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Spotify Technology from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Spotify Technology from $500.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Spotify Technology from $670.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Spotify Technology from $600.00 to $565.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Spotify Technology presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $652.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gustav Soderstrom sold 20,833 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were 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 owned 20,609 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,758,773.68. The trade was a 50.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas O. Staggs sold 5,477 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.00, for a total transaction of $2,880,902.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,903,594. This represents a 60.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,442 shares of company stock valued at $54,647,508. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Spotify Technology

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.