Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 24,951 Shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 72,140 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,951 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Snap were worth $1,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Snap by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,814,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $818,067,000 after acquiring an additional 1,352,655 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Snap by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 8,267,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,666,000 after acquiring an additional 327,038 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Snap by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 4,301,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,325,000 after acquiring an additional 245,555 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Snap by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,091,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,460,000 after buying an additional 10,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Snap by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,213,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,633,000 after buying an additional 21,937 shares in the last quarter. 47.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SNAP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Snap from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Snap from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Snap from $22.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Snap from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Snap from $17.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.86.

Insider Activity at Snap

In related news, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.16, for a total transaction of $210,080.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 461,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,449,840.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Evan Spiegel sold 150,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.16, for a total transaction of $210,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 461,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,449,840.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 470,482 shares of company stock valued at $5,284,091.

Snap Stock Performance

Snap stock opened at $11.40 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $11.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 4.39 and a current ratio of 4.39. The stock has a market cap of $18.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.73 and a beta of 1.13. Snap Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.86 and a fifty-two week high of $17.90.

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

Snap 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.