Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) Position Lowered by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP - Free Report) by 95.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,145 shares of the company's stock after selling 526,790 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Snap were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Snap by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 31,126 shares of the company's stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 901 shares during the period. HCR Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Snap by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 25,016 shares of the company's stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 934 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Snap by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 35,639 shares of the company's stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Snap by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 142,144 shares of the company's stock worth $1,531,000 after buying an additional 1,310 shares during the period. Finally, Certuity LLC boosted its stake in shares of Snap by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 17,738 shares of the company's stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 1,495 shares during the period. 47.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Snap Trading Up 11.4%

Shares of SNAP stock traded up $0.94 on Monday, reaching $9.19. 53,599,288 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,617,306. The stock has a market cap of $15.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.88 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 3.95, a current ratio of 3.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $8.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.31. Snap Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.08 and a 1-year high of $17.33.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.12). Snap had a negative return on equity of 25.67% and a negative net margin of 13.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Snap Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SNAP. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Snap in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Snap from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of Snap in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Snap from $13.00 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Snap from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Snap news, SVP Eric Young sold 102,152 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.84, for a total value of $1,107,327.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,443,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,326,661.96. This represents a 2.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Derek Andersen sold 61,334 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.84, for a total transaction of $664,860.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 3,564,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,636,307.40. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,362,523 shares of company stock valued at $20,719,017. Company insiders own 22.68% of the company's stock.

Snap Company 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.