Snap Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:SNAP)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders bought 188,211 call options on Snap on Thursday, roughly an 87% jump above the average daily call volume of 100,596.
• Shares and fundamentals under pressure: SNAP traded down to $4.00 on heavy volume (104.2M shares vs a 37.0M average), posted an EPS miss of $0.03 vs $0.15 (with a slight revenue beat), and carries a consensus analyst rating of Hold with a $8.17 target.
• Notable insider selling: Insiders have sold 2,570,641 shares (about $13.4M) over the past 90 days, including recent sales by the CFO and General Counsel, though insiders still hold 22.68% of the company.

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 188,211 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 87% compared to the average daily volume of 100,596 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SNAP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Snap from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. B. Riley Financial raised Snap from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $10.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded Snap from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $10.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on Snap from $9.50 to $6.40 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Snap from $9.50 to $6.50 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Sunday, February 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Snap currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $8.17.

Snap Price Performance

SNAP stock traded down $0.50 during trading on Thursday, reaching $4.00. The company had a trading volume of 104,244,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,995,144. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 3.56 and a quick ratio of 3.56. Snap has a 52 week low of $3.90 and a 52 week high of $10.41. The business has a 50 day moving average of $5.54 and a 200 day moving average of $7.10.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.12). Snap had a negative net margin of 7.76% and a negative return on equity of 20.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.01 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Snap will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Snap news, CFO Derek Andersen sold 92,956 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.59, for a total transaction of $426,668.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 3,799,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,440,443.99. This represents a 2.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Zachary M. Briers sold 134,705 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.70, for a total transaction of $633,113.50. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 2,854,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,414,213.60. This trade represents a 4.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 2,570,641 shares of company stock worth $13,436,343 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 have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 56,092 shares of the company's stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 6,956 shares in the last quarter. Tobam increased its stake in shares of Snap by 953.3% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 47,305 shares of the company's stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 42,814 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in Snap during the 4th quarter valued at about $185,000. SB Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in Snap during the 4th quarter valued at about $596,000. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in Snap during the fourth quarter worth about $1,434,000. Institutional investors own 47.52% of the company's stock.

Snap Company Profile

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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