Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 471,300 Shares of Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT)

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its stake in Sprout Social by 13.5%, now owning 3,023,523 shares worth approximately $66.5 million.
• Insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of Sprout Social stock, significantly reducing their ownership by 84.36%, while CEO Ryan Paul Barretto also sold 16,800 shares, a decrease of 12.30% in their holdings.
• Analysts are mixed on Sprout Social's outlook, with target price adjustments ranging from $22 to $32, and an average rating of "Hold" among multiple analysts.

Baillie Gifford & Co. lessened its holdings in Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT - Free Report) by 13.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,023,523 shares of the company's stock after selling 471,300 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 5.23% of Sprout Social worth $66,487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Sprout Social in the 4th quarter worth approximately $338,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Sprout Social by 391.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 35,985 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 28,667 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Sprout Social in the 4th quarter valued at $1,184,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 98,284 shares of the company's stock worth $3,018,000 after acquiring an additional 8,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 76,976 shares of the company's stock worth $1,693,000 after acquiring an additional 6,774 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SPT shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Sprout Social from $29.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Sprout Social from $30.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.00.

Sprout Social Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SPT traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $19.13. 77,718 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 674,657. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.94. Sprout Social, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.32 and a 52 week high of $39.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.33 and a beta of 1.01.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.07. Sprout Social had a negative return on equity of 31.03% and a negative net margin of 14.25%. The company had revenue of $109.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. Sprout Social's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sprout Social, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sprout Social

In other news, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto sold 16,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total transaction of $355,488.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 119,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,534,439. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Karen Walker sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.05, for a total value of $95,250.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,375 shares of company stock worth $3,221,935 in the last three months. 10.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.