Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 74,940,000 shares, an increase of 22.3% from the March 15th total of 61,270,000 shares. Currently, 6.9% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 31,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SNAP shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Snap from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Snap from $14.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Snap in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Snap from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Snap from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-four have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Snap has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.49.

Insider Transactions at Snap

In other Snap news, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 8,837 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.84, for a total transaction of $95,793.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 429,892 shares in the company, valued at $4,660,029.28. This represents a 2.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Michael J. O'sullivan sold 24,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.60, for a total transaction of $206,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 507,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,365,876. This trade represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,356,523 shares of company stock worth $12,710,077 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 22.68% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Snap

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SNAP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Snap by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,601,172 shares of the company's stock worth $71,095,000 after buying an additional 389,812 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Snap in the 4th quarter worth approximately $289,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Snap by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,538,111 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,565,000 after purchasing an additional 29,526 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. acquired a new stake in Snap in the fourth quarter valued at $158,000. 47.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Snap Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SNAP traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $8.61. The stock had a trading volume of 9,231,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,574,178. The company has a market capitalization of $14.60 billion, a PE ratio of -20.50 and a beta of 0.92. Snap has a 1 year low of $7.08 and a 1 year high of $17.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $9.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.51. The company has a current ratio of 3.95, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.13). Snap had a negative return on equity of 25.67% and a negative net margin of 13.02%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Snap will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Snap

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.