Verde Capital Management Grows Stock Position in Spotify Technology $SPOT

Key Points

• Verde Capital Management increased its Spotify Technology stake by 81.3% in the first quarter, adding 4,175 shares to bring its total to 9,312 shares worth about $4.5 million.
• Spotify’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $4.04 versus the $3.41 estimate and revenue of $5.25 billion, up 8.2% year over year.
• The stock was trading lower and drew mixed signals from insiders and analysts: insiders sold shares during the quarter, while analysts maintained a Moderate Buy consensus with a $652.16 average price target.

Verde Capital Management boosted its holdings in Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT - Free Report) by 81.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,312 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 4,175 shares during the period. Spotify Technology accounts for approximately 1.0% of Verde Capital Management's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Verde Capital Management's holdings in Spotify Technology were worth $4,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Spotify Technology by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 645,196 shares of the company's stock worth $374,672,000 after purchasing an additional 73,722 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 24,199 shares during the period. City Holding Co. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 5,384 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Spotify Technology by 8.2% during the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 80,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,039,000 after buying an additional 6,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 113,612 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.09% of the company's stock.

Spotify Technology Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE SPOT opened at $458.74 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $480.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $505.26. Spotify Technology has a 52 week low of $405.00 and a 52 week high of $785.00. The stock has a market cap of $94.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.55, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.56.

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $4.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.63. Spotify Technology had a net margin of 15.56% and a return on equity of 35.73%. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Spotify Technology will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Christopher P. Marshall sold 2,650 shares of Spotify Technology stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.86, for a total transaction of $1,377,629.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,099,714.54. The trade was a 39.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gustav Soderstrom sold 20,833 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 20,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,758,773.68. This trade represents a 50.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 111,442 shares of company stock worth $54,647,508 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SPOT shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Spotify Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price 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. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Spotify Technology from $760.00 to $695.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Spotify Technology from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on Spotify Technology from $745.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $652.16.

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.