Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 128,086 Shares of Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. drastically reduced its stake in Sprout Social, owning only 11,800 shares after selling 128,086, resulting in a valuation of approximately $259,000 at the end of the last quarter.
• Multiple hedge funds made significant adjustments to their positions in Sprout Social, with Federated Hermes Inc. acquiring a new stake valued at around $5.35 million during the same period.
• Analyst ratings on Sprout Social have varied, with an average target price of $27.42 and a consensus rating of "Hold," indicating mixed investor sentiment towards the stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT - Free Report) by 91.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,800 shares of the company's stock after selling 128,086 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Sprout Social were worth $259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cadian Capital Management LP grew its stake 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 worth $139,679,000 after purchasing an additional 263,267 shares during the period. Dorsey Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey Asset Management LLC now owns 2,306,149 shares of the company's stock worth $70,822,000 after buying an additional 330,155 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Sprout Social by 1.3% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,200,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,388,000 after purchasing an additional 28,876 shares in the last quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 380.7% in the fourth 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. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,183,916 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,366,000 after acquiring an additional 8,378 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SPT. Barclays dropped their price target on Sprout Social from $34.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Sprout Social from $30.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Sprout Social from $32.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Sprout Social from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.42.

Insider Transactions at Sprout Social

In related news, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.12, for a total transaction of $844,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $156,647.04. The trade was a 84.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen Walker sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.05, for a total value of $95,250.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 28,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at $551,745.15. This represents a 14.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 112,375 shares of company stock worth $2,389,535. 10.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sprout Social Price Performance

Shares of SPT traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $14.28. The stock had a trading volume of 482,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 692,864. Sprout Social, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.33 and a 52 week high of $36.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $19.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.78. The company has a market capitalization of $830.52 million, a P/E ratio of -14.97 and a beta of 0.99.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.03. Sprout Social had a negative return on equity of 25.95% and a negative net margin of 12.70%. The firm had revenue of $111.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.09 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Sprout Social, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.