KeyCorp Downgrades Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) to Sector Weight

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) was downgraded by equities research analysts at KeyCorp from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on SPT. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Sprout Social from $73.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Sprout Social from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $72.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Sprout Social in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.07.

Sprout Social Price Performance

SPT opened at $28.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.71. Sprout Social has a one year low of $27.85 and a one year high of $68.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.06 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprout Social news, CFO Preto Joseph Del sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.71, for a total value of $89,565.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,322 shares in the company, valued at $7,602,396.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Sprout Social news, CFO Preto Joseph Del sold 1,500 shares of Sprout Social stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.71, for a total value of $89,565.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 127,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,602,396.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.36, for a total transaction of $2,334,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 287,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,802,544.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 140,200 shares of company stock worth $8,171,958. Corporate insiders own 10.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprout Social

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPT. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sprout Social in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sprout Social in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Sprout Social in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Sprout Social during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI grew its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter.

Sprout Social Company Profile

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.