Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) Short Interest Up 26.2% in January

Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 6,110,067 shares, an increase of 26.2% from the January 15th total of 4,841,567 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,245,411 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days. Currently, 11.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Currently, 11.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,245,411 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprout Social news, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of Sprout Social stock in a transaction on Friday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.70, for a total transaction of $428,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,361.90. The trade was a 84.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aaron Edward Frederick Rankin purchased 90,661 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.14 per share, with a total value of $1,009,963.54. Following the transaction, the director owned 114,969 shares in the company, valued at $1,280,754.66. The trade was a 372.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 10.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprout Social

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Sprout Social in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in shares of Sprout Social in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 78.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Sprout Social by 2,754.5% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 3,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 264.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 2,745 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SPT. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Sprout Social in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $25.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $26.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Sprout Social from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.91.

Sprout Social Stock Performance

Sprout Social stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Monday, reaching $7.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,955,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,675,089. The firm has a market capitalization of $423.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.83 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.68. Sprout Social has a 52 week low of $6.51 and a 52 week high of $32.05.

Sprout Social Company Profile

Sprout Social (NASDAQ: SPT) is a Chicago-based software company specializing in social media management solutions for businesses of all sizes. The company provides a cloud-based platform designed to help organizations improve their social media presence through a suite of tools for content scheduling, community engagement, social listening and analytics. Sprout Social’s platform is built to streamline the workflows of marketing, customer care and public relations teams by providing a centralized hub for managing multiple social channels.

The company’s product offerings include publishing and scheduling capabilities that allow users to plan and automate social content across networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.