Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Cut to “Hold” at Freedom Capital

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) was downgraded by investment analysts at Freedom Capital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on SNAP. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Snap from $9.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Snap from $9.50 to $6.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Sunday, February 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Snap from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. KeyCorp raised shares of Snap from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Snap from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.91.

Snap Stock Performance

Shares of SNAP opened at $5.61 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 3.53 and a quick ratio of 3.56. Snap has a one year low of $3.81 and a one year high of $10.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.47 billion, a PE ratio of -23.35 and a beta of 1.05.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.14). Snap had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a negative return on equity of 18.92%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.08) EPS. Snap’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Snap will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Zachary M. Briers sold 11,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.04, for a total transaction of $69,079.48. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 2,774,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,755,147.24. This trade represents a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 16,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.70, for a total transaction of $77,545.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 466,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,193,405.40. This trade represents a 3.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 565,573 shares of company stock worth $2,699,781 over the last three months. 22.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Snap

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Korea Investment CORP increased its position in shares of Snap by 573.6% during the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 967,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,460,000 after acquiring an additional 823,900 shares in the last quarter. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Snap during the third quarter valued at approximately $10,256,000. DNB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of Snap by 433.6% during the third quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 1,042,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,041,000 after acquiring an additional 847,447 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Snap by 54.4% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 749,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,780,000 after acquiring an additional 264,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Snap by 76.3% during the third quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 628,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,843,000 after acquiring an additional 271,893 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

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.