Guggenheim Downgrades Snap (NYSE:SNAP) to Neutral

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) was downgraded by research analysts at Guggenheim from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Snap from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Snap from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective (up from $12.00) on shares of Snap in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Snap from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Snap from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Snap presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.87.

Snap Stock Performance

Snap stock opened at $10.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 3.95 and a quick ratio of 4.04. Snap has a 12 month low of $8.29 and a 12 month high of $17.33. The company has a market cap of $17.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.52 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $11.36 and its 200-day moving average is $10.78.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.13). Snap had a negative return on equity of 25.67% and a negative net margin of 13.02%. Equities analysts anticipate that Snap will post -0.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Snap

In other Snap news, CFO Derek Andersen sold 94,164 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.44, for a total transaction of $1,077,236.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,193,806 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,140.64. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 32,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.42, for a total transaction of $397,440.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 433,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,378,654.88. This represents a 6.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 443,518 shares of company stock valued at $4,947,981 in the last 90 days. 22.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Snap

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SNAP. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Snap by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,831,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,078,000 after buying an additional 134,017 shares during the period. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. grew its position in Snap by 105.6% in the 3rd quarter. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. now owns 7,981,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,406,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098,847 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Snap by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,601,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,095,000 after purchasing an additional 389,812 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Snap by 49.6% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,910,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297,348 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Snap by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,245,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,950,000 after buying an additional 15,294 shares in the last quarter. 47.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Snap

Snap Inc operates as a technology company in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers Snapchat, a visual messaging application with various tabs, such as camera, visual messaging, snap map, stories, and spotlight that enable people to communicate visually through short videos and images.