Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Downgraded to “Neutral” at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler cut shares of Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $40.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $66.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BTIG Research cut Sprout Social from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Sprout Social from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Sprout Social from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $57.07.

Sprout Social Stock Performance

Sprout Social stock traded down $19.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $28.82. 13,470,229 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 679,800. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.06 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $55.98 and a 200 day moving average of $56.71. Sprout Social has a 12 month low of $27.85 and a 12 month high of $68.41.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.30) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $93.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.76 million. Sprout Social had a negative return on equity of 42.60% and a negative net margin of 19.64%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sprout Social will post -1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Ryan Paul Barretto sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total transaction of $333,928.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 209,375 shares in the company, valued at $12,485,031.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Aaron Edward Frederick Rankin sold 44,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.60, for a total value of $2,622,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 40,888 shares in the company, valued at $2,436,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Ryan Paul Barretto sold 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total value of $333,928.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 209,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,485,031.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,200 shares of company stock worth $8,171,958 over the last three months. 10.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprout Social

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Sprout Social by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,084,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,609,000 after buying an additional 191,471 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in shares of Sprout Social by 244.1% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,404,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,692,000 after buying an additional 3,124,376 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Sprout Social by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,953,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,183,000 after buying an additional 853,127 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Sprout Social by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,532,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,587,000 after buying an additional 153,642 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Sprout Social by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,137,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,625,000 after buying an additional 311,146 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.