Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Price Target Lowered to $49.00 at Morgan Stanley

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) had its price objective dropped by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $65.00 to $49.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 70.02% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $75.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of 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 report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $72.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.07.

Sprout Social Trading Down 40.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SPT opened at $28.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Sprout Social has a 12 month low of $27.85 and a 12 month high of $68.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $55.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.71.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $93.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.76 million. Sprout Social had a negative return on equity of 42.60% and a negative net margin of 19.64%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sprout Social will post -1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sprout Social

In other news, President Ryan Paul Barretto sold 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 209,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,485,031.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, President Ryan Paul Barretto sold 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 209,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,485,031.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Aaron Edward Frederick Rankin sold 44,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.60, for a total value of $2,622,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 40,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,436,924.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,200 shares of company stock valued at $8,171,958 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 162.5% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 74,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,568,000 after acquiring an additional 46,033 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 43.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 61,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,058,000 after acquiring an additional 18,644 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 244.1% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,404,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,692,000 after acquiring an additional 3,124,376 shares during the last quarter. Corton Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 191,471 shares during the last quarter.

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.