Short Interest in Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) Declines By 12.9%

Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,050,000 shares, a decline of 12.9% from the August 31st total of 5,800,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 632,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SPT shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Sprout Social from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.31.

Sprout Social Stock Performance

NASDAQ SPT opened at $29.07 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.33. The firm has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.26 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Sprout Social has a 1 year low of $25.05 and a 1 year high of $68.41.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $99.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.70 million. Sprout Social had a negative return on equity of 44.38% and a negative net margin of 19.60%. Sprout Social’s quarterly revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sprout Social will post -0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprout Social news, President Ryan Paul Barretto sold 13,306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.23, for a total transaction of $388,934.38. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 470,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,761,747.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Sprout Social news, President Ryan Paul Barretto sold 13,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.23, for a total transaction of $388,934.38. Following the transaction, the president now owns 470,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,761,747.07. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Aaron Edward Frederick Rankin sold 1,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.23, for a total value of $34,520.63. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 42,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,226.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,282 shares of company stock valued at $2,670,776 in the last 90 days. 10.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprout Social

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,694,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,150,000 after acquiring an additional 100,890 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in Sprout Social by 6.1% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 11,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 2,346.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 783 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 6.2% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $992,000 after purchasing an additional 1,617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sprout Social by 9,779.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 331,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,819,000 after purchasing an additional 327,907 shares during the period.

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.