Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) shares experienced a significant gap up prior to trading, moving from a previous close of $194.35 to an opening price of $201.75.
• Wall Street analysts are very bullish on Snowflake, with multiple firms increasing their price targets, the highest being set at $250.00, while the consensus target price stands at $230.22.
• Insider selling has been notable, with key executives like Director Frank Slootman selling over $93 million worth of shares, indicating a potential shift in confidence among insiders.

Shares of Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $194.35, but opened at $201.75. Snowflake shares last traded at $201.33, with a volume of 2,965,067 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Snowflake from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Snowflake from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Snowflake from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America raised Snowflake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $250.00 price target (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Snowflake in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $230.22.

Snowflake Trading Up 3.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $210.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -47.67 and a beta of 1.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Snowflake

In other news, Director Frank Slootman sold 424,852 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.35, for a total value of $93,191,286.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 165,507 shares in the company, valued at $36,303,960.45. This represents a 71.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael L. Speiser sold 50,338 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.35, for a total transaction of $10,638,936.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 37,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,988,184.60. This trade represents a 57.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,516,826 shares of company stock worth $555,691,052. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Advantage Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Snowflake by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advantage Inc. now owns 4,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $987,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Snowflake by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 3,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Avion Wealth boosted its position in shares of Snowflake by 76.6% in the second quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 113 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Snowflake by 1.3% in the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the company's stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Advyzon Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Snowflake by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the company's stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 65.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Snowflake

Snowflake Inc provides a cloud-based data platform for various organizations in the United States and internationally. Its platform offers Data Cloud, which enables customers to consolidate data into a single source of truth to drive meaningful business insights, build data-driven applications, and share data and data products, as well as applies artificial intelligence (AI) for solving business problems.

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