Snowflake Shares Fall 2.8% Following Insider Stock Sales

Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) experienced a decline of 2.8% in its stock price on December 9, 2023, following notable insider selling activity. The shares fell to a low of $216.00 before recovering slightly to close at $216.26. During the trading session, approximately 9,089,855 shares changed hands, marking a significant increase of 73% compared to the average daily volume of 5,267,033 shares.

The slide in stock value was largely influenced by sales from key executives. Director Frank Slootman sold 1,993 shares at an average price of $223.31, totaling $445,056.83. Post-sale, Slootman retained 150,456 shares valued at approximately $33,598,329.36, reflecting a 1.31% decrease in his ownership. This transaction was officially reported in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Similarly, Executive Vice President Christian Kleinerman sold 548 shares on the same day, also at an average price of $223.31, resulting in a total of $122,373.88. Following this sale, Kleinerman’s holdings decreased to 510,435 shares, valued at about $113,985,239.85, which is a 0.11% decrease in his stake. These sales underscore a broader trend of insider transactions within the company.

In a separate transaction dated December 5, Michael L. Speiser, another director at Snowflake, sold 50,338 shares for $11,610,459.70, at an average price of $230.65. Following this transaction, he retained 32,756 shares valued at approximately $7,555,171.40, indicating a substantial 60.58% reduction in his ownership.

Analysts Provide Mixed Ratings

According to various research firms, Snowflake’s stock remains a topic of interest. JMP Securities raised its price target from $283.00 to $325.00, asserting a “market outperform” rating in a recent note. Morgan Stanley also increased its target from $272.00 to $299.00, maintaining an “overweight” rating. Other firms such as BTIG Research and Wells Fargo & Company reiterated their positive outlooks, setting price targets of $312.00 and $290.00, respectively.

Currently, the stock has received two “Strong Buy” ratings, thirty-five “Buy” ratings, three “Hold” ratings, and three “Sell” ratings. As per data from MarketBeat, Snowflake holds a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $274.78.

Financial Overview and Future Expectations

Despite the recent fluctuations, Snowflake maintains a market capitalization of $73.84 billion. The company’s price-to-earnings ratio stands at -53.95, with a beta of 1.09. Its 50-day moving average price is $250.24, while the 200-day moving average price is $227.20. Snowflake has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.48, and a current ratio of 1.37.

In its most recent earnings report, released on December 3, 2023, Snowflake reported earnings per share of $0.35, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.04. The report indicated revenues of $1.21 billion, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.18 billion. Year-over-year, revenue increased by 28.7%, highlighting the company’s growth trajectory despite a negative net margin of 30.76% and a negative return on equity of 45.91%.

Looking ahead, analysts forecast that Snowflake Inc. will report an earnings per share of -2.36 for the current fiscal year.

Institutional investors continue to show interest in Snowflake. Notably, Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. increased its stake by an astonishing 71,500.0% in the first quarter, now holding 7,160 shares valued at approximately $1,047,000. Other significant investments include new positions from OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd and Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC, among others. Currently, institutional investors own 65.10% of Snowflake’s stock.

Snowflake Inc. continues to provide a cloud-based data platform catering to various organizations globally. Its offerings enable clients to consolidate data effectively, facilitating informed business decisions and data-driven applications while leveraging artificial intelligence for problem-solving.

For further updates and analysis related to Snowflake and similar companies, consider subscribing to MarketBeat’s daily newsletter.