Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Raises Position in Snap Inc. $SNAP

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 650,556 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 111,386 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Snap were worth $5,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Snap by 110.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,300,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,549,000 after buying an additional 5,930,766 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Snap by 4,603.7% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,006,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,128,000 after acquiring an additional 2,942,789 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Snap by 38.8% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,777,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,612,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336,264 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Snap by 180.2% in the first quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 1,983,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Snap in the second quarter valued at approximately $10,330,000. 47.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SNAP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Snap from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $7.00 price objective on Snap in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Snap from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Snap from $8.50 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Snap from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.88.

Snap Stock Performance

Snap stock opened at $7.57 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $7.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.02 billion, a PE ratio of -26.10 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 3.67 and a current ratio of 3.67. Snap Inc. has a one year low of $6.90 and a one year high of $13.28.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.12). Snap had a negative net margin of 8.60% and a negative return on equity of 21.61%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.09) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Snap Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Snap

In other news, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $8,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 51,911,126 shares in the company, valued at $415,289,008. This trade represents a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 70,882 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.34, for a total value of $591,155.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 1,854,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,470,549.88. This represents a 3.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,425,016 shares of company stock worth $11,419,924. 22.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Snap

Snap Inc is a camera and social media company best known for developing and operating Snapchat, a multimedia messaging application that allows users to send photos, videos and messages that disappear after being viewed. In addition to its core messaging service, Snap offers a suite of augmented reality (AR) tools, including custom Lenses and Filters, that enable users and third-party developers to create interactive and immersive experiences. The company also provides advertising solutions that allow brands to engage audiences through Snap Ads, Sponsored Lenses and Discover content on the platform.

Founded in 2011 by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, Snap has continually focused on innovation in camera technology and AR.