Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 6,921,841 Shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has increased its stake in Snap Inc. by 6.7%, now owning approximately 6.45% of the company's shares, valued at $953.6 million.
• Snap reported earnings of ($0.16) EPS for the last quarter, meeting analyst expectations, with revenue up by 8.7% year-over-year.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Snap, with recent target price changes ranging from $12.00 to $8.50, while maintaining a consensus rating of "Hold."

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP - Free Report) by 6.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 109,483,491 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,921,841 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 6.45% of Snap worth $953,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SNAP. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Snap in the 4th quarter worth $3,291,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Snap by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 662,840 shares of the company's stock worth $7,139,000 after acquiring an additional 6,963 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Snap in the 4th quarter worth $1,393,000. Senvest Management LLC raised its holdings in Snap by 160.3% in the 4th quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 2,448,100 shares of the company's stock worth $26,366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507,500 shares during the period. Finally, Portolan Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Snap in the 4th quarter worth $25,447,000. Institutional investors own 47.52% of the company's stock.

Snap Price Performance

NYSE:SNAP traded up $0.07 on Friday, reaching $7.15. The stock had a trading volume of 46,745,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 52,566,500. The company has a market capitalization of $11.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.34 and a beta of 0.62. Snap Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.06 and a 1-year high of $13.28. The company has a quick ratio of 3.88, a current ratio of 3.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.99.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.16). Snap had a negative net margin of 9.69% and a negative return on equity of 23.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.15) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Snap Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on SNAP shares. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Snap from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Snap from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Snap from $8.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Snap from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Snap in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.16.

Insider Activity at Snap

In other Snap news, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 1,000,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.80, for a total value of $7,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 53,215,224 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $415,078,747.20. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Michael J. O'sullivan sold 24,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.57, for a total transaction of $229,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 486,984 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,660,436.88. This represents a 4.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,202,570 shares of company stock valued at $9,525,096. Insiders own 22.68% of the company's stock.

Snap Profile

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.