Douglas Hott Sells 124,209 Shares of Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Stock

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) CFO Douglas Hott sold 124,209 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.60, for a total value of $695,570.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 2,571,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,398,434.40. The trade was a 4.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Douglas Hott also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, May 19th, Douglas Hott sold 114,702 shares of Snap stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.67, for a total value of $650,360.34.

Snap Stock Performance

Shares of SNAP stock traded up $0.07 on Wednesday, hitting $5.62. 25,514,032 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 44,708,984. The company has a current ratio of 3.53, a quick ratio of 3.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.49 billion, a PE ratio of -23.40 and a beta of 1.05. Snap Inc. has a one year low of $3.81 and a one year high of $10.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $5.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.44.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. Snap had a negative return on equity of 18.92% and a negative net margin of 6.72%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Snap Inc. will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Snap

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Snap by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,251,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,100,000 after acquiring an additional 641,271 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Snap by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,452,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,808,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179,543 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Snap by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,780,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,285,000 after acquiring an additional 95,989 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Snap in the 3rd quarter valued at about $176,697,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Snap by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,525,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,711,000 after acquiring an additional 469,795 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SNAP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Snap from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group set a $8.00 target price on Snap in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore restated a “mixed” rating on shares of Snap in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Snap to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Snap in a research note on Monday, April 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Snap presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.91.

Key Stories Impacting Snap

Here are the key news stories impacting Snap this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Snap appointed Luke Wood, the former President of Beats by Dr. Dre and former Apple executive, to its board of directors. Investors may view the hire as a positive signal for product, brand, and consumer-tech strategy. Luke Wood Joins Snap Inc. Board of Directors
• Neutral Sentiment: Snap’s latest earnings call was described as a “cautious comeback,” suggesting management may have sounded more measured on the recovery path rather than issuing a clearly bullish surprise. Snap Inc. Earnings Call Signals Cautious Comeback
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insiders, including CFO Douglas Hott, General Counsel Zachary M. Briers, CAO Rebecca Morrow, and insider Ajit Mohan, sold shares in recent days. The company said the transactions were tied to tax withholding on equity vesting, which makes them less alarming, but the breadth of selling can still pressure sentiment. SEC filing for CFO sale

Snap Company 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.