Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Snap (NYSE:SNAP)

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 134,605 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 60% compared to the average volume of 84,074 call options.

Snap Stock Up 7.3%

Shares of Snap stock opened at $8.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.17 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $8.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.55. Snap has a fifty-two week low of $7.08 and a fifty-two week high of $17.33. The company has a quick ratio of 4.30, a current ratio of 4.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.12). Snap had a negative net margin of 9.63% and a negative return on equity of 21.53%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Snap will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on SNAP. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Snap from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Snap from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Snap from $13.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on Snap from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Snap from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Snap presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Snap news, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 14,297 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.04, for a total transaction of $114,947.88. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 2,097,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,864,084.92. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Derek Andersen sold 33,886 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.04, for a total value of $272,443.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 3,204,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,763,520.72. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,639,601 shares of company stock worth $13,532,151 in the last quarter. 22.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SNAP. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in Snap by 154,650.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 3,093 shares during the period. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Snap during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in Snap during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in Snap by 155.4% during the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 3,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Snap during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.