Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Snap from a “buy” to a “hold,” adding to a mixed analyst picture that currently skews cautious. MarketBeat says the stock’s average rating remains “Hold,” with an average price target of $7.23.
• Snap shares were down 1.5% and opened at $4.34, well below their 52-week high of $9.90. The company also trades below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Recent earnings showed a miss on profit, with EPS of -$0.05 versus the expected $0.09, though revenue matched estimates at $1.53 billion and rose 12.2% year over year. Analysts currently expect Snap to post -0.07 EPS for the full fiscal year.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Snap from $4.50 to $5.25 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $5.00 price objective on shares of Snap in a report on Tuesday. Tigress Financial assumed coverage on shares of Snap in a research report on Monday, April 27th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Snap to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Snap in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $7.23.

Snap Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:SNAP opened at $4.34 on Friday. Snap has a 52-week low of $3.81 and a 52-week high of $9.90. The company has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a PE ratio of -18.10 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 3.53 and a current ratio of 3.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $5.07 and a 200-day moving average of $5.52.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. Snap had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a negative return on equity of 18.92%. The company's revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.08) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Snap will post -0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 343,945 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.88, for a total value of $2,022,396.60. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 4,963,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,185,856.28. The trade was a 6.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 16,729 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.60, for a total transaction of $93,682.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 512,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,871,741.60. This represents a 3.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 2,868,059 shares of company stock valued at $15,855,631 over the last three months. Insiders own 22.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Snap

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Snap by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,251,557 shares of the company's stock worth $817,100,000 after acquiring an additional 641,271 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Snap by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,452,006 shares of the company's stock valued at $713,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,543 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Snap during the third quarter worth approximately $176,697,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Snap by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,525,119 shares of the company's stock worth $108,711,000 after purchasing an additional 469,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Snap by 53.3% in the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 10,300,911 shares of the company's stock worth $79,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,582,223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.52% of the company's stock.

About Snap

Snap Inc is a camera and social media company best known for developing and operating Snapchat, a multimedia messaging application that allows users to send photos, videos and messages that disappear after being viewed. In addition to its core messaging service, Snap offers a suite of augmented reality (AR) tools, including custom Lenses and Filters, that enable users and third-party developers to create interactive and immersive experiences. The company also provides advertising solutions that allow brands to engage audiences through Snap Ads, Sponsored Lenses and Discover content on the platform.

Founded in 2011 by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, Snap has continually focused on innovation in camera technology and AR.

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