Ajit Mohan Sells 119,339 Shares of Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Stock

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) insider Ajit Mohan sold 119,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.70, for a total transaction of $560,893.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,158,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,244,841.90. The trade was a 2.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ajit Mohan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 16th, Ajit Mohan sold 20,848 shares of Snap stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.62, for a total transaction of $158,861.76.
• On Tuesday, December 16th, Ajit Mohan sold 28,137 shares of Snap stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.21, for a total transaction of $202,867.77.

Snap Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of SNAP stock opened at $5.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 3.56 and a quick ratio of 3.56. The company has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.02 and a beta of 0.83. Snap Inc. has a 1 year low of $4.65 and a 1 year high of $10.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $7.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.51.

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

Snap News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Snap this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company initiatives: Snap unveiled Creator Subscriptions to build recurring creator revenue, introduced new AR glasses to expand its hardware/AR roadmap, and announced a US$500 million share buyback aimed at offsetting dilution — all of which support a narrative of diversified, higher?margin revenue and capital return. Snap Tests New Revenue Mix
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade: Arete Research upgraded SNAP to Buy and highlighted higher?margin recurring revenue as a near?term catalyst, reinforcing investor optimism about monetization of new products. Arete Cites Higher?Margin Recurring Revenue
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional activity: Large funds (Vanguard, Capital World, Geode, etc.) show continued ownership increases, which provides base demand but doesn’t guarantee near?term upside. MarketBeat SNAP Overview
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downside risk: Citi cut its price target from $10 to $6 and kept a Neutral rating, citing persistent brand?advertising headwinds after Q4 — a reminder ad recovery may be slow and pressure valuations. Citi Lowers Snap PT to $6
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Several senior executives (GC, CFO, CAO and others) disclosed open?market sales totaling hundreds of thousands of shares in mid?Feb, which can be interpreted as a near?term negative signal for sentiment. Insider Selling Alerts
• Negative Sentiment: Recent earnings pressure: Snap’s Q4 report showed revenue growth but an EPS miss (reported EPS below consensus), keeping profitability and margin recovery questions on investors’ minds. Snap Earnings/Analyst Coverage

Institutional Trading of Snap

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SB Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Snap in the fourth quarter worth about $596,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Snap by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 56,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 6,956 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in Snap in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,434,000. Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in Snap by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 180,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,459,000 after acquiring an additional 4,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Snap during the fourth quarter worth approximately $458,000. 47.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SNAP shares. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Snap from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Snap in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. They set a “strong sell” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Snap in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $5.50 price target on Snap and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised Snap from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.43.

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.