597,150 Shares in Sprout Social, Inc. $SPT Purchased by Nuveen LLC

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a new stake in Sprout Social, Inc. worth approximately $13.13 million, representing about 1.03% of the company's shares.
• Recent insider trading activity has seen CEO Ryan Paul Barretto and another insider sell significant portions of their holdings, resulting in a 12.30% and 84.36% decrease in their respective ownerships.
• Despite a revenue increase of 12.5% year-over-year, Sprout Social reported a negative return on equity of -25.95% and the current consensus rating for the stock is a "Moderate Buy".

Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 597,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,131,000. Nuveen LLC owned 1.03% of Sprout Social at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Sprout Social by 391.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 35,985 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,105,000 after buying an additional 28,667 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 27,028 shares of the company's stock valued at $830,000 after acquiring an additional 8,599 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Sprout Social by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,861 shares of the company's stock valued at $702,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sprout Social during the fourth quarter worth about $1,184,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Sprout Social by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 98,284 shares of the company's stock worth $3,018,000 after purchasing an additional 8,050 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Sprout Social from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Sprout Social in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Sprout Social from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Karen Walker sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.05, for a total transaction of $95,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 28,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $551,745.15. This represents a 14.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto sold 16,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total transaction of $355,488.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 119,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,534,439. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 112,375 shares of company stock valued at $2,389,535 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.12% of the company's stock.

Sprout Social Trading Up 2.1%

SPT stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $15.19. The company had a trading volume of 688,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 962,238. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Sprout Social, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.33 and a 52 week high of $36.30. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $18.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.74. The stock has a market cap of $893.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.99 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.03. Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 12.70% and a negative return on equity of 25.95%. The firm had revenue of $111.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $110.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.09 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sprout Social, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.