Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Downgraded by Piper Sandler

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) was downgraded by Piper Sandler from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $40.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $66.00. Piper Sandler’s target price indicates a potential upside of 38.79% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Sprout Social from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Sprout Social from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.07.

Sprout Social Trading Down 40.1 %

SPT opened at $28.82 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $55.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.71. Sprout Social has a 1-year low of $27.85 and a 1-year high of $68.41. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.06 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last issued its 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 net margin of 19.64% and a negative return on equity of 42.60%. The firm had revenue of $93.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.76 million. Analysts predict that Sprout Social will post -1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Ryan Paul Barretto sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total transaction of $333,928.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 209,375 shares in the company, valued at $12,485,031.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, President Ryan Paul Barretto sold 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total transaction of $333,928.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 209,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,485,031.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.36, for a total value of $2,334,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 287,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,802,544.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,200 shares of company stock valued at $8,171,958. Insiders own 10.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sprout Social by 162.5% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 74,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,568,000 after buying an additional 46,033 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in shares of Sprout Social by 43.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 61,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,058,000 after acquiring an additional 18,644 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 244.1% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,404,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,692,000 after acquiring an additional 3,124,376 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Sprout Social by 16.6% in the third quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,084,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,609,000 after purchasing an additional 191,471 shares during the period.

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.