Swiss National Bank Decreases Stake in Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP)

Swiss National Bank cut its stake in shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,977,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 120,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.18% of Snap worth $32,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in shares of Snap by 182.5% during the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 30,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 19,769 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in Snap by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 20,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 3,267 shares during the period. Inceptionr LLC acquired a new position in Snap during the fourth quarter valued at $145,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Snap during the 4th quarter worth about $3,291,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Snap by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 306,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,297,000 after buying an additional 8,133 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SNAP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $16.00 target price (down previously from $18.00) on shares of Snap in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Snap from $14.00 to $14.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Snap in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.87.

Snap Trading Up 4.2 %

NYSE SNAP opened at $9.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.44 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a current ratio of 3.95. Snap Inc. has a one year low of $8.29 and a one year high of $17.33. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.80.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.13). Snap had a negative return on equity of 25.67% and a negative net margin of 13.02%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Snap Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Snap

In other news, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.04, for a total transaction of $9,040,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 55,818,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $504,599,673.92. This represents a 1.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Derek Andersen sold 17,789 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total value of $213,468.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,176,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,112,204. The trade was a 0.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,295,231 shares of company stock valued at $12,272,639 over the last three months. 22.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.