Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 87,300,000 shares, a growth of 34.5% from the December 15th total of 64,920,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 28,960,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 8.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SNAP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price target on shares of Snap in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Snap from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Snap in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Snap from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Snap from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Snap has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.99.

Snap Price Performance

Snap stock traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $11.23. 37,608,138 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,831,879. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.40. Snap has a 1 year low of $8.29 and a 1 year high of $17.50. The company has a market capitalization of $18.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.35 and a beta of 0.98. 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 issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Snap had a negative net margin of 18.49% and a negative return on equity of 35.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.21) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Snap will post -0.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Snap

In related news, Director Joanna Coles sold 6,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total value of $77,208.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 54,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $657,132. This represents a 10.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Michael J. O’sullivan sold 12,315 shares of Snap stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.54, for a total transaction of $129,800.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 1,195,567 shares in the company, valued at $12,601,276.18. The trade was a 1.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,451,618 shares of company stock worth $17,560,157 over the last three months.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. HCR Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 25,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in Snap by 6.9% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 19,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Snap by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 77,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 1,433 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Snap by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 1,513 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Snap by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 25,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,614 shares during the last quarter. 47.52% of the stock is currently 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.