Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $120.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.68 million.

Sprout Social Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SPT traded up $0.35 during trading on Thursday, hitting $7.11. 2,310,927 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,540,677. Sprout Social has a 52-week low of $6.43 and a 52-week high of $29.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.30 and a 200 day moving average of $11.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $420.84 million, a PE ratio of -8.78 and a beta of 0.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SPT. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Sprout Social from $25.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective 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, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sprout Social currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto acquired 93,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.67 per share, for a total transaction of $1,002,809.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 875,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,338,981.52. The trade was a 12.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Aaron Edward Frederick Rankin bought 90,661 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,009,963.54. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprout Social

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SPT. Quadrant Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Sprout Social during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Summit Securities Group LLC raised its stake in Sprout Social by 399.0% in the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 2,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 2,015 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in Sprout Social by 264.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 2,745 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprout Social in the 4th quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Sprout Social by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 1,752 shares in the last quarter.

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.