Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) shares reached a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $22.19 and last traded at $22.47, with a volume of 166635 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $34.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Sprout Social from $37.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Sprout Social from $34.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Sprout Social from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Sprout Social from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.85.

Sprout Social Trading Down 4.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.77 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.35). Sprout Social had a negative return on equity of 40.94% and a negative net margin of 17.24%. The business had revenue of $107.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.74 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sprout Social, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto sold 16,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.99, for a total transaction of $520,632.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 153,375 shares in the company, valued at $4,753,091.25. The trade was a 9.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Aaron Edward Frederick Rankin sold 23,646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.58, for a total transaction of $581,218.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 42,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,358.76. The trade was a 35.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 125,446 shares of company stock worth $3,823,551. Corporate insiders own 10.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprout Social

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Sprout Social by 100.9% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Sprout Social by 2,392.6% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Sprout Social by 77.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. Yarbrough Capital LLC bought a new position in Sprout Social during the fourth quarter worth $206,000. Finally, Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Sprout Social in the fourth quarter valued at $233,000.

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.