Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Snap Inc. shares opened significantly lower at $7.50 after Truist Financial downgraded their price target from $11.00 to $10.00, with the stock previously closing at $9.39.
• Multiple analysts have revised their price targets for Snap, with ratings varying from "sell" to "buy", resulting in an overall average rating of "hold" and a price target of $34.56.
• Insider selling has been notable, with executives Eric Young and Derek Andersen selling significant shares recently, indicating a decrease in their positions by 3.39% and 1.05%, respectively.

Shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on the stock from $9.00 to $8.70. The stock had previously closed at $9.39, but opened at $7.50. Rosenblatt Securities currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Snap shares last traded at $7.59, with a volume of 61,956,594 shares changing hands.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Snap from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Snap in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Snap from $9.50 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. B. Riley decreased their price target on Snap from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Snap from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Michael J. O'sullivan sold 24,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.57, for a total value of $229,680.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 486,984 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,660,436.88. This represents a 4.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajit Mohan sold 28,201 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.40, for a total value of $265,089.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,676,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,357,154.20. The trade was a 0.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 667,802 shares of company stock worth $5,813,801 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 22.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SNAP. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in Snap in the 4th quarter valued at $158,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Snap by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 20,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 4,944 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Snap in the 4th quarter valued at $3,216,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Snap by 116.5% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 945,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,200,000 after acquiring an additional 508,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Snap in the 4th quarter valued at $27,713,000. 47.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Snap Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 4.30 and a current ratio of 3.88. The company has a market capitalization of $12.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.22 and a beta of 0.62.

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