Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) Shares Acquired by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT - Free Report) by 44.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 62,176 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,098 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Sprout Social worth $1,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sprout Social in the fourth quarter worth $4,296,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Sprout Social in the fourth quarter worth $304,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 22,201 shares of the company's stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sprout Social in the fourth quarter worth $1,785,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 84.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 51,367 shares of the company's stock worth $1,577,000 after acquiring an additional 23,525 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Sprout Social

In other news, 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 value of $581,218.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 42,122 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,035,358.76. This represents a 35.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at $148,265.83. The trade was a 84.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 125,446 shares of company stock valued at $2,644,639 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 10.12% of the company's stock.

Sprout Social Stock Performance

SPT traded down $0.37 on Friday, reaching $21.32. The company had a trading volume of 675,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 632,810. Sprout Social, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.52 and a 1 year high of $39.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of -17.77 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.58.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $109.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $107.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. Sprout Social's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sprout Social, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on SPT shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $30.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank decreased 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. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $38.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.69.

Sprout Social 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.