Snap Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:SNAP)

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 162,036 call options on the company. This is an increase of 79% compared to the average volume of 90,416 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SNAP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Snap from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Snap from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Snap from $13.50 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Snap in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Snap from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-four have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Snap currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.49.

Snap Stock Performance

SNAP opened at $7.98 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.06 and a 200-day moving average of $10.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a current ratio of 3.95. Snap has a 52-week low of $7.08 and a 52-week high of $17.33. The company has a market cap of $13.54 billion, a PE ratio of -19.00 and a beta of 0.92.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.13). Snap had a negative net margin of 13.02% and a negative return on equity of 25.67%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Snap will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Derek Andersen sold 33,618 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.83, for a total transaction of $296,846.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 3,507,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,974,730.51. This trade represents a 0.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.49, for a total value of $206,820.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 480,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,520,922.02. This trade represents a 3.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,356,523 shares of company stock valued at $12,710,077 over the last three months. Company insiders own 22.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Snap by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 31,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares during the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in Snap by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 25,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Snap by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 13,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 1,030 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Snap by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 61,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $661,000 after buying an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Snap by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 35,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the last quarter. 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.