Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $75.00 price target on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a buy rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set an overweight rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $72.57.

Sprout Social Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SPT opened at $52.74 on Tuesday. Sprout Social has a 52-week low of $37.00 and a 52-week high of $68.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.34 and a 200 day moving average of $56.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of -43.95 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $93.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.76 million. Sprout Social had a negative return on equity of 41.25% and a negative net margin of 19.91%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sprout Social will post -1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Justyn Russell Howard sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.52, for a total value of $1,130,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 406,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,983,066.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Sprout Social news, President Ryan Paul Barretto sold 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total value of $318,920.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 198,175 shares in the company, valued at $11,286,066.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Justyn Russell Howard sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 406,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,983,066.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,200 shares of company stock valued at $8,171,958 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprout Social

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SPT. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprout Social during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Sprout Social during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Sprout Social during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprout Social during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 941.1% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 687 shares during the last quarter.

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.