Headlands Technologies LLC Acquires New Holdings in Snap Inc. $SNAP

Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 129,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $577,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SNAP. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Snap during the 3rd quarter worth about $176,697,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Snap by 874.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,066,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,239,000 after acquiring an additional 9,033,644 shares during the period. Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Snap in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,300,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 1,191.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,903,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,330,000 after acquiring an additional 3,601,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Snap by 53.3% during the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 10,300,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,582,223 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on SNAP. Wall Street Zen raised Snap from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Snap in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Snap in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Freedom Capital raised Snap from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Snap from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Snap currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.65.

Insider Activity at Snap

In other news, General Counsel Zachary M. Briers sold 67,540 shares of Snap stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.08, for a total value of $343,103.20. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 2,356,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,972,498.28. This trade represents a 2.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Douglas Hott sold 131,884 shares of Snap stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.20, for a total transaction of $685,796.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 2,324,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,087,727.60. The trade was a 5.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,414,795 shares of company stock worth $13,251,460. 22.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Snap Stock Up 4.5%

NYSE SNAP opened at $5.59 on Thursday. Snap Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.81 and a 12 month high of $9.28. The company has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.05 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.94 and a quick ratio of 2.94.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Snap had a negative net margin of 4.90% and a negative return on equity of 14.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Snap Inc. will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Snap Profile

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.