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

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 151,680 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 35% compared to the average volume of 112,133 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SNAP shares. B. Riley Financial upgraded Snap from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Snap in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Snap in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Snap from $9.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Arete Research set a $7.30 target price on Snap and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.06.

Snap Stock Performance

Shares of SNAP stock opened at $5.62 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.80. Snap has a one year low of $3.81 and a one year high of $10.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.49 billion, a PE ratio of -20.81 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 3.56 and a quick ratio of 3.56.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.12). Snap had a negative net margin of 7.76% and a negative return on equity of 20.72%. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Snap will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Snap

In other news, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total transaction of $5,360,000.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 49,313,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $264,321,834. The trade was a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 16,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.70, for a total value of $77,545.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 466,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,193,405.40. This trade represents a 3.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,546,926 shares of company stock valued at $13,250,655.

Institutional Trading of Snap

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Snap by 92.3% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,581 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services acquired a new position in Snap in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Arax Advisory Partners lifted its stake in Snap by 220.0% in the fourth quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 3,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 2,275 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Snap in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Snap by 561.4% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 3,071 shares during the period. 47.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.