Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $9.98, but opened at $10.21. Snap shares last traded at $10.38, with a volume of 5,731,133 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SNAP shares. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Snap in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley raised Snap from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $12.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Snap from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective (down from $15.00) on shares of Snap in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Snap from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.89.

Snap Trading Up 2.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $16.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.24 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.71. The company has a quick ratio of 3.98, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Snap had a negative net margin of 23.49% and a negative return on equity of 42.84%. Analysts predict that Snap Inc. will post -0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Snap

In related news, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 8,923 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.10, for a total transaction of $81,199.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 472,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,298,885.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 8,923 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.10, for a total transaction of $81,199.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 472,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,298,885.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.69, for a total value of $8,690,000.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 58,553,813 shares in the company, valued at $508,832,634.97. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,510,352 shares of company stock valued at $13,446,353. 22.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Snap

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SNAP. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Snap by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 19,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 1,232 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Snap during the 1st quarter valued at $129,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Snap by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 84,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $970,000 after purchasing an additional 28,523 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Snap by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 21,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Snap during the 1st quarter valued at $100,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

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.