Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Cut to “Neutral” at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $45.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $72.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on SPT. Piper Sandler downgraded Sprout Social from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday. BTIG Research downgraded Sprout Social from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a buy rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Sprout Social from $73.00 to $65.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on Sprout Social in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an overweight rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $57.07.

Sprout Social Trading Down 40.1 %

NASDAQ SPT opened at $28.82 on Friday. Sprout Social has a 1-year low of $27.85 and a 1-year high of $68.41. 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 $56.80. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of -23.06 and a beta of 1.09.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.30) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $93.58 million for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sprout Social will post -1.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Justyn Russell Howard sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.52, for a total transaction of $1,130,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 406,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,983,066.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Justyn Russell Howard sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.52, for a total value of $1,130,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 406,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,983,066.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Preto Joseph Del sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total value of $89,445.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 172,644 shares in the company, valued at $10,294,761.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,100 shares of company stock valued at $5,126,065 in the last ninety days. 10.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprout Social

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,084,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,609,000 after purchasing an additional 191,471 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 244.1% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,404,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,692,000 after acquiring an additional 3,124,376 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 27.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,953,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,183,000 after acquiring an additional 853,127 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,532,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,587,000 after acquiring an additional 153,642 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 17.0% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,137,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,625,000 after acquiring 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.