Snap Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:SNAP)

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 128,528 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 46% compared to the typical volume of 87,999 call options.

Insider Activity

In other Snap news, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.49, for a total value of $206,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 480,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,520,922.02. This trade represents a 3.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Derek Andersen sold 61,334 shares of Snap stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.84, for a total value of $664,860.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 3,564,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,636,307.40. This trade represents a 1.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,350,523 shares of company stock valued at $12,698,797 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 22.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Snap

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Snap during the 4th quarter worth approximately $422,049,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Snap by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 84,137,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $906,161,000 after purchasing an additional 23,569,522 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Snap during the fourth quarter worth $30,162,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Snap in the fourth quarter valued at $27,713,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Snap by 62.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,211,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,462,000 after buying an additional 2,386,519 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Snap Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SNAP opened at $9.24 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.77. Snap has a twelve month low of $8.29 and a twelve month high of $17.33. The company has a current ratio of 3.95, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $15.67 billion, a PE ratio of -21.99 and a beta of 0.92.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.13). Snap had a negative net margin of 13.02% and a negative return on equity of 25.67%. On average, equities analysts predict that Snap will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on SNAP shares. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Snap from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Snap from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $16.00 price target (down previously from $18.00) on shares of Snap in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Snap from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Snap from $13.00 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.87.

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.