Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Trading Up 5.7% – Here’s What Happened

Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) traded up 5.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $32.77 and last traded at $32.43. 20,697 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 283,698 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Sprout Social in a report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $48.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprout Social currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.46.

Sprout Social Stock Up 5.4 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.90 and a 200 day moving average of $31.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.96 and a beta of 1.03.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($0.06). Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 17.24% and a negative return on equity of 40.94%. The company had revenue of $102.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $102.04 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sprout Social, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto sold 16,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total transaction of $474,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 170,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,807,443.75. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.23, for a total value of $564,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,381.91. This represents a 72.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 73,565 shares of company stock worth $2,196,911. 10.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sprout Social

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPT. Quarry LP boosted its position in Sprout Social by 2,346.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 751 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 27.5% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Sprout Social during the second quarter worth about $218,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Sprout Social in the third quarter worth about $265,000. Finally, Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp purchased a new position in Sprout Social during the 2nd quarter valued at about $368,000.

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.