Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 200,190 Shares of Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT - Free Report) by 20.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,199,451 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 200,190 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 2.09% of Sprout Social worth $34,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 2,346.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 783 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 751 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC grew its stake in Sprout Social by 76.5% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Sprout Social by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,717 shares of the company's stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Sprout Social in the 2nd quarter worth $218,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Sprout Social during the 3rd quarter valued at $265,000.

Insider Activity at Sprout Social

In other news, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto sold 16,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total value of $474,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 170,175 shares in the company, valued at $4,807,443.75. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Preto Joseph Del sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.27, for a total value of $42,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 158,614 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,484,017.78. This trade represents a 0.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,765 shares of company stock worth $1,676,279 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 10.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Sprout Social from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Sprout Social in a report on Monday, November 18th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target 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. 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.46.

Sprout Social Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Sprout Social stock traded up $0.35 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $32.41. 176,740 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 727,584. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.01 and a beta of 1.03. Sprout Social, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.05 and a 1 year high of $68.41. The stock's fifty day moving average is $30.26 and its 200 day moving average is $31.61.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $102.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $102.04 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sprout Social, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.