Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $12.15, but opened at $11.78. Snap shares last traded at $11.68, with a volume of 4,451,002 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SNAP. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Snap from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Snap in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Snap from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 price target on shares of Snap in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Snap from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Snap has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.99.

Snap Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $11.58 and its 200-day moving average is $11.40. The firm has a market cap of $19.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.91 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. Snap had a negative net margin of 18.49% and a negative return on equity of 35.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.21) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Snap Inc. will post -0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Snap

In other Snap news, CFO Derek Andersen sold 94,164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.44, for a total transaction of $1,077,236.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,193,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,097,140.64. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joanna Coles sold 6,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total value of $77,208.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 54,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $657,132. This trade represents a 10.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,451,618 shares of company stock valued at $17,560,157 in the last 90 days.

Institutional Trading of Snap

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SNAP. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Snap by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 1,513 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Snap in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $788,000. RDA Financial Network acquired a new stake in shares of Snap in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $123,000. HCR Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 25,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 51.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,086,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,244,000 after buying an additional 1,050,501 shares during the last quarter. 47.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Snap Company Profile

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.