Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.04 EPS

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.04, FiscalAI reports. Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 10.59% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The business had revenue of $120.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.68 million.

Sprout Social Trading Up 5.2%

SPT stock traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $7.11. The stock had a trading volume of 2,310,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,540,677. 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 has a market cap of $420.84 million, a P/E ratio of -8.78 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $9.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.21. Sprout Social has a 1-year low of $6.43 and a 1-year high of $29.01.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto bought 93,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.67 per share, with a total value of $1,002,809.28. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 875,256 shares in the company, valued at $9,338,981.52. The trade was a 12.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aaron Edward Frederick Rankin acquired 90,661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $11.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,009,963.54. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 114,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,280,754.66. This represents a 372.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 10.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPT. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Sprout Social by 391.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 35,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 28,667 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Sprout Social in the 1st quarter valued at about $365,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 2.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 53,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sprout Social by 23.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 325,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,163,000 after buying an additional 60,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Sprout Social during the first quarter worth $325,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on SPT. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price 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 lowered their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $26.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Sprout Social from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.00.

About Sprout Social

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.