Insider Selling: Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Insider Sells 44,785 Shares of Stock

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) insider Ajit Mohan sold 44,785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.60, for a total value of $250,796.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,057,891 shares in the company, valued at $28,324,189.60. This trade represents a 0.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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.

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

• On Thursday, April 16th, Ajit Mohan sold 28,058 shares of Snap stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.02, for a total value of $168,909.16.
• On Monday, March 16th, Ajit Mohan sold 27,743 shares of Snap stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.59, for a total value of $127,340.37.

Snap Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE SNAP traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.62. 25,514,032 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 44,708,984. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 3.53 and a current ratio of 3.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.44. Snap Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.81 and a 52 week high of $10.41. The company has a market cap of $9.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.40 and a beta of 1.05.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Snap Inc. will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Snap in the 3rd quarter worth $176,697,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Snap by 874.3% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,066,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,239,000 after purchasing an additional 9,033,644 shares during the last quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in Snap during the first quarter worth $25,300,000. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Snap in the third quarter valued at about $29,071,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Snap by 53.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines 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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital set a $8.00 price objective on Snap in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Freedom Capital downgraded shares of Snap from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $6.50 price target on shares of Snap in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. HSBC cut shares of Snap from a “hold” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Snap from $9.50 to $6.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Sunday, February 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.91.

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.