Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $9.00 to $6.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $26.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $9.00 price objective (down from $16.00) on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprout Social presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.11.

Sprout Social Stock Down 9.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:SPT opened at $6.45 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $381.77 million, a PE ratio of -8.72 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. Sprout Social has a 52-week low of $6.03 and a 52-week high of $27.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $9.12 and a 200 day moving average of $11.13.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $120.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.68 million. Sprout Social had a negative return on equity of 16.51% and a negative net margin of 9.47%.Sprout Social has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.970 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.150-0.160 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sprout Social will post -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Sprout Social news, Director Aaron Edward Frederick Rankin purchased 90,661 shares of Sprout Social stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,009,963.54. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 114,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,280,754.66. This trade represents a 372.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.70, for a total value of $428,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,361.90. The trade was a 84.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprout Social

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Sprout Social by 78.9% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Sprout Social by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 17,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 78,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Sprout Social by 2.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 53,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Sprout Social by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 1,752 shares in the last quarter.

Sprout Social News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Sprout Social this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat estimates and management raised guidance — Sprout reported $0.20 non‑GAAP EPS and $120.9M revenue (both above consensus) and issued Q1 and FY‑2026 non‑GAAP EPS and revenue guidance well above prior expectations; this supports the company’s claim of improving profitability and cash generation. SPT Beats Q4 Sales Expectations (Yahoo)
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic catalysts: management set a new target (30% Rule of 40 on a non‑GAAP basis by Q4 2027), highlighted growth in $30K+ customers (22% subscription revenue growth contribution) and promoted AI product Trellis — these initiatives aim to lift enterprise ARPU and margins over time. Quiver: Targets 30% Rule of 40
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call and disclosures provide detail but mixed signals — transcripts and slide deck show recurring GAAP losses alongside improving non‑GAAP profitability and higher deferred revenue/RPO, giving investors both runway and execution risk to weigh. Seeking Alpha: Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts pared targets and some issued downgrades after the print — KeyCorp cut its target to $6 and moved to underweight, Canaccord trimmed its target to $9 (hold), and Needham sharply reduced a prior $32 target to $14 (still buy); the headline KeyCorp move and mixed analyst views are likely driving near‑term selling pressure. These Analysts Cut Their Forecasts On Sprout Social After Q4 Earnings (Benzinga)
• Negative Sentiment: Underlying fundamentals still show GAAP losses and retention headwinds — Sprout reported a GAAP net loss, negative net margin and dollar‑based net retention of 100% (down from 104%), which keeps execution risk and future growth sustainability on investors’ radar. Quiver: Financial & Customer Metrics
• Negative Sentiment: Insider and institutional flows look unfavorable in recent filings — Quiver/other summaries show multiple insider sales and notable institutional reductions by some large holders, which can amplify downside momentum even when results beat. Quiver: Insider & Institutional Activity

Sprout Social Company Profile

Sprout Social (NASDAQ: SPT) is a Chicago-based software company specializing in social media management solutions for businesses of all sizes. The company provides a cloud-based platform designed to help organizations improve their social media presence through a suite of tools for content scheduling, community engagement, social listening and analytics. Sprout Social’s platform is built to streamline the workflows of marketing, customer care and public relations teams by providing a centralized hub for managing multiple social channels.

The company’s product offerings include publishing and scheduling capabilities that allow users to plan and automate social content across networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.