Brokerages Set Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) Price Target at $44.54

Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.42.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SPT shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on Sprout Social from $48.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Sprout Social in a report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Sprout Social from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th.

Sprout Social Stock Performance

Shares of Sprout Social stock opened at $32.62 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.18 and a beta of 1.03. Sprout Social has a fifty-two week low of $25.05 and a fifty-two week high of $68.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $102.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.04 million. Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 17.24% and a negative return on equity of 40.94%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sprout Social will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Karen Walker sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.26, for a total value of $151,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $927,922.90. The trade was a 14.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.67, for a total value of $1,266,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $859,397.12. This trade represents a 59.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 80,265 shares of company stock valued at $2,533,406 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprout Social

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SPT. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 188,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,000 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 324.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 402,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,714,000 after buying an additional 307,906 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 20.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,199,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,868,000 after buying an additional 200,190 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of Sprout Social in the third quarter valued at $1,074,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Sprout Social during the third quarter valued at about $2,120,000.

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.