BMO Capital Markets Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Snap (NYSE:SNAP)

Snap (NYSE:SNAP)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $16.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $18.00. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 42.54% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on SNAP. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Snap from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Snap in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Snap from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Snap from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on Snap from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Snap has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.99.

Snap Stock Performance

Shares of Snap stock opened at $11.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.83 billion, a PE ratio of -19.35 and a beta of 0.98. Snap has a 1 year low of $8.29 and a 1 year high of $17.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. The company 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%. Snap’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.21) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Snap will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Snap

In other news, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.84, for a total transaction of $195,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 498,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,403,718.32. This represents a 3.49 % 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, SVP Eric Young sold 50,000 shares of Snap stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.54, for a total value of $527,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 752,110 shares in the company, valued at $7,927,239.40. This represents a 6.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,451,618 shares of company stock valued at $17,560,157 over the last ninety days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Snap

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Snap by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in Snap during the fourth quarter valued at $788,000. RDA Financial Network purchased a new stake in Snap in the 4th quarter worth about $123,000. HCR Wealth Advisors boosted its position in Snap by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 25,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Snap by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,086,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,501 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.