KeyCorp Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Stock Price

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) had its target price lowered by research analysts at KeyCorp from $9.00 to $6.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. KeyCorp’s target price points to a potential downside of 6.98% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $32.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Sprout Social from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Barclays decreased their target price on 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 reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective (down from $16.00) on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.11.

Sprout Social Stock Down 9.3%

Sprout Social stock opened at $6.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $381.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.72 and a beta of 0.90. Sprout Social has a 52-week low of $6.03 and a 52-week high of $27.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.11.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.04. Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 9.47% and a negative return on equity of 16.51%. The company had revenue of $120.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.68 million. 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. Equities analysts predict that Sprout Social will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Aaron Edward Frederick Rankin bought 90,661 shares of Sprout Social stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,009,963.54. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 114,969 shares in the company, valued at $1,280,754.66. The trade was a 372.97% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.70, for a total transaction of $428,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sprout Social

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new position in Sprout Social during the third quarter worth about $1,702,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in shares of Sprout Social by 121.5% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 446,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,768,000 after acquiring an additional 244,874 shares in the last quarter. LB Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprout Social during the third quarter worth $2,455,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Sprout Social in the second quarter worth $880,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its position in shares of Sprout Social by 20.4% in the second quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 237,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,964,000 after purchasing an additional 40,223 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.