Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $27.25, but opened at $26.12. Sprout Social shares last traded at $26.51, with a volume of 173,202 shares traded.

The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.35). Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 17.24% and a negative return on equity of 40.94%. The company had revenue of $107.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.74 million.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SPT. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Sprout Social from $37.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Sprout Social from $55.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Sprout Social from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.67, for a total transaction of $1,266,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $859,397.12. This represents a 59.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen Walker sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.24, for a total value of $171,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,221,169.60. The trade was a 12.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 120,265 shares of company stock worth $3,837,006 in the last three months. 10.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP increased its stake in Sprout Social by 100.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Sprout Social by 2,392.6% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Sprout Social by 77.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Sprout Social by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the period. Finally, Yarbrough Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Sprout Social during the 4th quarter valued at about $206,000.

Sprout Social Stock Up 3.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.41 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $31.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.54.

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.