Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Shares Up 6.1% – Here’s Why

Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) shares rose 6.1% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $34.87 and last traded at $34.86. Approximately 179,085 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 728,651 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SPT shares. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp lowered Sprout Social from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Sprout Social from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $48.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sprout Social presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.46.

Sprout Social Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of -28.43 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $102.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.04 million. Sprout Social had a negative return on equity of 40.94% and a negative net margin of 17.24%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sprout Social, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sprout Social

In related news, CFO Preto Joseph Del sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.27, for a total value of $42,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 158,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,484,017.78. This represents a 0.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto sold 16,800 shares of Sprout Social stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total value of $474,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 170,175 shares in the company, valued at $4,807,443.75. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 51,765 shares of company stock valued at $1,505,079. 10.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Sprout Social by 2,346.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 783 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC grew its position in Sprout Social by 76.5% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Sprout Social by 27.5% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Sprout Social during the second quarter worth about $218,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Sprout Social in the third quarter valued at approximately $265,000.

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.