Snap Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:SNAP)

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 113,267 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 54% compared to the average volume of 73,397 call options.

Snap Stock Down 1.2%

SNAP traded down $0.07 on Thursday, reaching $5.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 49,380,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 46,793,102. The company has a quick ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.19. The company has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.41 and a beta of 1.05. Snap has a fifty-two week low of $3.81 and a fifty-two week high of $9.28.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Douglas Hott sold 131,884 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.20, for a total transaction of $685,796.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,324,563 shares in the company, valued at $12,087,727.60. This trade represents a 5.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO Robert Murphy sold 2,000,000 shares of Snap stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.55, for a total value of $11,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 41,809,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,044,340.05. This represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 2,439,129 shares of company stock worth $13,387,372 in the last quarter. Insiders own 22.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Snap

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Saba Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Snap by 232.5% during the first quarter. Saba Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,727,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,748,000 after purchasing an additional 3,306,024 shares during the last quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Snap in the first quarter valued at about $25,300,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 3,601,002 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in Snap in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,620,000. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Snap during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,629,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SNAP. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Snap in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Snap in a research note on Friday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $6.50 target price on shares of Snap in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Snap in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Snap in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.65.

Snap Company Profile

Snap Inc is a technology and social media company best known for Snapchat, a visual messaging and social networking application. Snapchat enables users to communicate through photos, videos, text messages and augmented reality experiences, including Lenses and filters. The platform also offers Stories, Spotlight for short-form video, Snap Map and other tools for discovering and sharing content.

Snap generates most of its business through digital advertising, including advertising displayed across Snapchat’s content and communication features.