Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Cuts Stake in Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP)

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,148,868 shares of the company’s stock after selling 137,831 shares during the quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. owned about 0.07% of Snap worth $12,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SNAP. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 224,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,435,000 after acquiring an additional 4,592 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 182.5% during the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 30,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 19,769 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in shares of Snap by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 20,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 3,267 shares during the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Snap during the 4th quarter valued at about $145,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Snap during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,291,000. 47.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Snap Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of SNAP opened at $8.64 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.80. Snap Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.29 and a 1 year high of $17.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 3.95 and a quick ratio of 3.95. The firm has a market cap of $14.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.56 and a beta of 0.92.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 expect that Snap Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SNAP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Snap from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price target on shares of Snap in a report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective (down previously from $18.00) on shares of Snap in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Snap from $13.00 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Snap from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $15.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Snap has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.87.

Insider Activity at Snap

In related news, CTO Robert C. Murphy sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.04, for a total value of $9,040,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 55,818,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,599,673.92. This trade represents a 1.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Derek Andersen sold 17,789 shares of Snap stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total transaction of $213,468.00. Following the transaction, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,295,231 shares of company stock valued at $12,272,639. 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.