Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.42.

A number of research firms recently commented on SPT. Barclays dropped their price objective on Sprout Social from $48.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Sprout Social in a report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprout Social

In other news, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.67, for a total transaction of $1,266,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $859,397.12. This trade represents a 59.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto sold 13,465 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total value of $423,474.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 546,343 shares in the company, valued at $17,182,487.35. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,265 shares of company stock worth $2,533,406 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 10.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sprout Social

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SPT. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in shares of Sprout Social by 46.6% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 188,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,486,000 after acquiring an additional 60,000 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 324.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 402,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,714,000 after purchasing an additional 307,906 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,199,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,868,000 after buying an additional 200,190 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in shares of Sprout Social during the 3rd quarter worth $1,074,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Sprout Social during the 3rd quarter worth $2,120,000.

Sprout Social Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ SPT opened at $32.62 on Thursday. Sprout Social has a 1-year low of $25.05 and a 1-year high of $68.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.25. The company has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of -27.18 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($0.06). Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 17.24% and a negative return on equity of 40.94%. The firm had revenue of $102.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.04 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sprout Social will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sprout Social Company Profile

Sprout Social, Inc designs, develops, and operates a web-based social media management platform in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides cloud software for social messaging, data and workflows in a unified system of record, intelligence, and action.