Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Insider Selling

Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $18.52 and last traded at $18.74, with a volume of 22487 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $18.58.

Specifically, Director Karen Walker sold 5,000 shares of Sprout Social stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.05, for a total value of $95,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 28,963 shares in the company, valued at $551,745.15. The trade was a 14.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto sold 16,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total transaction of $355,488.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 119,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,534,439. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Sprout Social news, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of Sprout Social stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.12, for a total value of $844,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 7,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,647.04. The trade was a 84.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Sprout Social from $30.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on Sprout Social from $34.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $38.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $29.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.00.

Sprout Social Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of -17.91 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $109.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $107.63 million. Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 14.25% and a negative return on equity of 31.03%. Sprout Social’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Sprout Social, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprout Social

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SPT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sprout Social by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,900,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,762,000 after purchasing an additional 14,771 shares in the last quarter. Cadian Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Sprout Social by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Cadian Capital Management LP now owns 4,548,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,679,000 after buying an additional 263,267 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey Asset Management LLC now owns 2,306,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,822,000 after buying an additional 330,155 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Sprout Social by 1.3% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,200,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,388,000 after acquiring an additional 28,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC grew its stake in Sprout Social by 380.7% during the fourth quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 1,772,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,403,549 shares in 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.