Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Stock

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

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Sprout Social from $48.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target 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. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Sprout Social in a report on Monday, November 18th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Sprout Social in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Sprout Social from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.54.

Sprout Social Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SPT opened at $30.38 on Monday. Sprout Social has a 1 year low of $25.05 and a 1 year high of $68.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.32 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average is $31.41 and its 200 day moving average is $31.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

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

Insider Activity at Sprout Social

In other news, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto sold 13,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total transaction of $423,474.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 546,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,182,487.35. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Karen Walker sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.24, for a total transaction of $171,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,665 shares in the company, 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 have sold a total of 35,265 shares of company stock worth $1,115,306 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprout Social

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dorsey Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Sprout Social during the second quarter valued at about $61,583,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Sprout Social by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,762,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,374,000 after buying an additional 519,406 shares in the last quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprout Social during the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,717,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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. increased its holdings in Sprout Social by 324.0% in the 3rd 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.