Snap Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:SNAP)

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 101,349 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 17% compared to the typical daily volume of 86,401 call options.

Snap Stock Performance

Shares of SNAP stock opened at $12.16 on Friday. Snap has a 12 month low of $8.29 and a 12 month high of $17.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.69. The firm has a market cap of $19.96 billion, a PE ratio of -15.01 and a beta of 1.01. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.02. Snap had a negative net margin of 23.49% and a negative return on equity of 42.84%. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Snap will post -0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on SNAP shares. JMP Securities reduced their price target on shares of Snap from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Snap in a report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target (up from $12.00) on shares of Snap in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Snap from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Snap from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Snap currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Snap

In related news, CEO Evan Spiegel sold 150,000 shares of Snap stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.85, for a total value of $1,327,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,327,844 shares in the company, valued at $29,451,419.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Evan Spiegel sold 150,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.85, for a total transaction of $1,327,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,327,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,451,419.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 1,000,000 shares of Snap stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $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. Insiders have sold a total of 1,490,617 shares of company stock worth $13,183,890 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 22.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Snap

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. boosted its position in Snap by 105.6% during the third quarter. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. now owns 7,981,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,406,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098,847 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Snap during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $832,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 784,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,399,000 after buying an additional 219,111 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its stake in shares of Snap by 3.9% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,957,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,835,000 after buying an additional 112,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in Snap by 17.0% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 327,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,506,000 after buying an additional 47,717 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

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.