D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Makes New $1.79 Million Investment in Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 58,136 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,785,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.10% of Sprout Social at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Sprout Social by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,886,167 shares of the company's stock valued at $180,764,000 after acquiring an additional 141,141 shares during the period. Cadian Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Sprout Social by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Cadian Capital Management LP now owns 4,548,323 shares of the company's stock valued at $139,679,000 after acquiring an additional 263,267 shares during the period. Dorsey Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sprout Social by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey Asset Management LLC now owns 2,306,149 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,822,000 after acquiring an additional 330,155 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Sprout Social by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,171,567 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,689,000 after acquiring an additional 7,311 shares during the period. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Sprout Social by 380.7% during the 4th quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 1,772,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,403,549 shares during the period.

Sprout Social Stock Down 4.4%

SPT opened at $21.55 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.66. Sprout Social, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.52 and a 52 week high of $39.75. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of -17.96 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.07. Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 17.24% and a negative return on equity of 40.94%. The business had revenue of $109.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Sprout Social, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $34.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $29.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $38.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprout Social

In other news, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.99, for a total transaction of $799,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,265.83. This represents a 84.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Aaron Edward Frederick Rankin sold 23,646 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.58, for a total transaction of $581,218.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 42,122 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,358.76. This represents a 35.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 125,446 shares of company stock valued at $2,644,639 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.12% of the company's stock.

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.

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