Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Sets New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday after Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $50.00. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Sprout Social traded as low as $29.64 and last traded at $30.08, with a volume of 5810943 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.15.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird downgraded Sprout Social from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday. Barclays decreased their target price on Sprout Social from $72.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Sprout Social from $76.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Sprout Social from $65.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Sprout Social from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.07.

Insider Transactions at Sprout Social

In other news, CEO Justyn Russell Howard sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.52, for a total value of $1,130,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 406,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,983,066.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Justyn Russell Howard sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.52, for a total value of $1,130,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 406,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,983,066.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Ryan Paul Barretto sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total value of $333,928.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 209,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,485,031.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,200 shares of company stock valued at $8,171,958. Corporate insiders own 10.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprout Social

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Sprout Social during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprout Social in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Sprout Social during the third quarter worth $40,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Sprout Social during the third quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI boosted its holdings in Sprout Social by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter.

Sprout Social Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.02 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $56.68 and a 200 day moving average of $56.85.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.02). Sprout Social had a negative return on equity of 41.25% and a negative net margin of 19.91%. The business had revenue of $93.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.76 million. On average, analysts expect that Sprout Social, Inc. will post -1.17 EPS for the current year.

About Sprout Social

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.