Snap Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:SNAP)

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 195,165 call options on the company. This is an increase of 50% compared to the average daily volume of 129,796 call options.

Snap Stock Up 4.7 %

Shares of Snap stock opened at $10.90 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $17.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.13 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $11.19 and its 200 day moving average is $12.71. Snap has a twelve month low of $7.86 and a twelve month high of $17.90. The company has a quick ratio of 4.39, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.04. Snap had a negative net margin of 28.71% and a negative return on equity of 47.47%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.39 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Snap will post -0.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Snap

In other news, CEO Evan Spiegel sold 150,000 shares of Snap stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.11, for a total transaction of $1,666,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,627,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,305,346.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Evan Spiegel sold 150,000 shares of Snap stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.11, for a total transaction of $1,666,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,627,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,305,346.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 9,386 shares of Snap stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.14, for a total transaction of $104,560.04. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 495,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,520,159.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 470,054 shares of company stock valued at $5,279,729.

Institutional Trading of Snap

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SNAP. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Snap by 72.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 3,556 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Snap by 28.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 1,936 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its holdings in Snap by 9.4% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 23,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,000 after buying an additional 2,061 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Snap by 0.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 786,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,305,000 after purchasing an additional 5,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Snap in the first quarter worth $3,216,000. 47.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on SNAP shares. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Snap from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Snap from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Snap from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Snap from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Snap from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.86.

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.