Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Sees Large Volume Increase on Strong Earnings

Shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. Approximately 40,670,093 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 34% from the previous session's volume of 30,265,061 shares.The stock last traded at $14.00 and had previously closed at $11.40.

The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Snap had a negative net margin of 28.71% and a negative return on equity of 47.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SNAP shares. HSBC raised shares of Snap from a "reduce" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Snap from $12.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Snap from $13.50 to $16.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Snap from $9.50 to $12.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $16.00 price objective (up from $15.00) on shares of Snap in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $14.67.

Insider Transactions at Snap

In other news, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 2,442 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.00, for a total value of $26,862.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 493,084 shares in the company, valued at $5,423,924. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 2,442 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.00, for a total transaction of $26,862.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 493,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,423,924. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Evan Spiegel sold 150,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.11, for a total transaction of $1,666,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,627,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,305,346.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 470,482 shares of company stock worth $5,284,091. 22.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Snap

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Snap by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,814,471 shares of the company's stock valued at $818,067,000 after purchasing an additional 1,352,655 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its holdings in Snap by 565.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 262,952 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,343,000 after buying an additional 223,432 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Snap by 161.6% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,765 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,708 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Snap in the 3rd quarter valued at $423,000. Finally, Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in Snap by 191.7% in the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 415,635 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,703,000 after buying an additional 273,156 shares during the period. 47.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Snap Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $23.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.55 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $11.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.79.

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.