Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Stock Price

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $36.00 to $37.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

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

Sprout Social Price Performance

Shares of SPT opened at $30.38 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of -25.32 and a beta of 1.03. Sprout Social has a 52-week low of $25.05 and a 52-week high of $68.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $31.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) 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). The company had revenue of $102.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.04 million. Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 17.24% and a negative return on equity of 40.94%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sprout Social will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Karen Walker sold 5,000 shares of Sprout Social stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.24, for a total value of $171,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 35,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,221,169.60. The trade was a 12.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto sold 13,465 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total value of $423,474.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 546,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,182,487.35. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,265 shares of company stock worth $1,115,306. 10.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprout Social

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dorsey Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprout Social in the second quarter worth about $61,583,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Sprout Social by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,762,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,374,000 after buying an additional 519,406 shares during the period. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Sprout Social in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $10,717,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 9,779.5% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 331,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,819,000 after acquiring an additional 327,907 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Sprout Social by 324.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 402,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,714,000 after acquiring an additional 307,906 shares in 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.