Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Stock Price Down 5% Following Weak Earnings

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP)’s share price dropped 5% during trading on Wednesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as low as $11.09 and last traded at $11.02. Approximately 11,020,009 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 30,392,756 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.60.

The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.13). Snap had a negative net margin of 18.49% and a negative return on equity of 35.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SNAP. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Snap from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Snap in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Snap from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Snap from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $15.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Snap from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.87.

Insider Activity

In other Snap news, CAO Rebecca Morrow sold 32,000 shares of Snap stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.42, for a total transaction of $397,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 433,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,378,654.88. The trade was a 6.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 stock was sold at an average price of $10.54, for a total transaction of $129,800.10. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 1,195,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,601,276.18. This represents a 1.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 445,184 shares of company stock worth $4,968,189.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Snap

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Snap by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,697,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,742,000 after buying an additional 575,324 shares during the period. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Snap by 105.6% in the 3rd quarter. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. now owns 7,981,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,406,000 after buying an additional 4,098,847 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Snap by 62.4% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Snap by 49.6% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,910,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,842,000 after buying an additional 1,297,348 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Snap by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,245,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,950,000 after acquiring an additional 15,294 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Snap Stock Down 5.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $18.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.00 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $11.52 and its 200 day moving average is $10.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04.

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.