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

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $36.00 to $37.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 21.79% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on SPT. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $48.00 to $38.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Sprout Social from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Sprout Social in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Sprout Social in a report on Monday, November 18th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $44.54.

Sprout Social Price Performance

SPT traded down $0.12 on Monday, reaching $30.38. The company had a trading volume of 436,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 458,753. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.41 and a 200-day moving average of $31.38. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.32 and a beta of 1.03. Sprout Social has a one year low of $25.05 and a one year high of $68.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 40.94% and a negative net margin of 17.24%. The firm had revenue of $102.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.04 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sprout Social will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto sold 16,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.99, for a total transaction of $520,632.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 153,375 shares in the company, valued at $4,753,091.25. This trade represents a 9.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen Walker sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.24, for a total transaction of $171,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 35,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,221,169.60. This trade represents a 12.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,265 shares of company stock valued at $1,115,306 over the last ninety days. 10.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprout Social

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPT. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Sprout Social by 2.8% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 71,399 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,548,000 after acquiring an additional 1,911 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,934 shares of the company's stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Sprout Social in the second quarter valued at about $1,959,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Sprout Social during the 2nd quarter worth about $969,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Sprout Social by 134.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 13,589 shares of the company's stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 7,793 shares during the period.

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.