Short Interest in Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) Drops By 23.4%

Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,470,000 shares, a drop of 23.4% from the February 28th total of 4,530,000 shares. Approximately 6.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 621,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.67, for a total transaction of $1,266,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $859,397.12. This trade represents a 59.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Aaron Edward Frederick Rankin sold 23,646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.58, for a total value of $581,218.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,358.76. The trade was a 35.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 108,646 shares of company stock valued at $3,302,919 in the last 90 days. 10.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprout Social

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SPT. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Sprout Social during the 4th quarter valued at $4,296,000. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Sprout Social during the 4th quarter worth $233,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in Sprout Social by 96.4% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 110,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,397,000 after acquiring an additional 54,300 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Sprout Social by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 4,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in Sprout Social by 110.7% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 454,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,947,000 after buying an additional 238,650 shares during the last quarter.

Sprout Social Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of Sprout Social stock traded up $0.57 on Wednesday, reaching $22.57. 185,696 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 731,858. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $28.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.54. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.80 and a beta of 1.11. 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 has a 52 week low of $21.51 and a 52 week high of $59.04.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.35). The company had revenue of $107.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.74 million. Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 17.24% and a negative return on equity of 40.94%. Sell-side analysts predict that Sprout Social will post -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SPT shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Sprout Social from $34.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Sprout Social from $37.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Sprout Social from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.85.

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.