Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Snap (NYSE:SNAP)

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 195,165 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 50% compared to the typical volume of 129,796 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SNAP shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Snap from $17.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Snap from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Snap from $12.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Snap from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Snap from $9.50 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.65.

Insider Activity at Snap

In other Snap news, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.16, for a total transaction of $210,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 461,005 shares in the company, valued at $7,449,840.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Snap news, CEO Evan Spiegel sold 150,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.11, for a total transaction of $1,666,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,627,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,305,346.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.16, for a total transaction of $210,080.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 461,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,449,840.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 470,054 shares of company stock worth $5,279,729.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Snap by 72.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 3,556 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of Snap by 28.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in shares of Snap by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 23,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 2,061 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Snap by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 786,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,305,000 after purchasing an additional 5,182 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Snap in the 1st quarter worth about $3,216,000. 47.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Snap Stock Up 4.7 %

SNAP stock traded up $0.49 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $10.90. The stock had a trading volume of 53,849,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,386,230. Snap has a one year low of $7.86 and a one year high of $17.90. The company has a quick ratio of 4.39, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $11.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.73. The company has a market capitalization of $17.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.13 and a beta of 1.13.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 billion. Snap had a negative net margin of 28.71% and a negative return on equity of 47.47%. Equities research analysts forecast that Snap will post -0.58 EPS for the current year.

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.