Morgan Stanley Increases Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Price Target to $37.00

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $36.00 to $37.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 20.44% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on SPT. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Sprout Social from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $48.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Sprout Social in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.54.

Sprout Social Stock Performance

Shares of SPT opened at $30.72 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of -25.60 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.35. Sprout Social has a 52 week low of $25.05 and a 52 week high of $68.41.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.06). Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 17.24% and a negative return on equity of 40.94%. The company had revenue of $102.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.04 million. Research analysts expect that Sprout Social will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto sold 13,465 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total value of $423,474.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 546,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,182,487.35. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen Walker sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.24, for a total value of $171,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,665 shares in the company, valued at $1,221,169.60. This represents a 12.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,265 shares of company stock valued at $1,266,606. Insiders own 10.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sprout Social

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 16.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,762,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,374,000 after purchasing an additional 519,406 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,694,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,150,000 after buying an additional 100,890 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,164,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,915,000 after acquiring an additional 21,186 shares during the period. Dorsey Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprout Social during the 2nd quarter valued at about $61,583,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Sprout Social by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,227,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,672,000 after acquiring an additional 5,557 shares during the period.

Sprout Social Company Profile

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.