Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Earns “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Snap (NYSE:SNAP)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $640.00 target price on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Snap in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Snap from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Snap from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Snap in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Argus raised Snap to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.10.

Snap Stock Performance

NYSE SNAP opened at $12.45 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $11.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.21. Snap has a 52-week low of $8.29 and a 52-week high of $17.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.46 and a beta of 0.97.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Snap had a negative return on equity of 35.60% and a negative net margin of 18.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.21) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Snap will post -0.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Snap

In other news, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.89, for a total transaction of $214,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 464,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,517,067.01. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.50, for a total value of $12,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 57,210,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $715,137,362.50. This trade represents a 1.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,406,709 shares of company stock worth $16,662,107. Company insiders own 22.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Snap

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Snap in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Snap during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Snap by 141.9% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,632 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Snap in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Snap by 354.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Snap Company Profile

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.