Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT - Free Report) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 976,098 shares of the company's stock after selling 52,828 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.69% of Sprout Social worth $21,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPT. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 380.7% during 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 last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sprout Social during the fourth quarter worth $13,422,000. Dorsey Asset Management LLC raised its stake in 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 last quarter. Cadian Capital Management LP raised its stake in Sprout Social by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Cadian Capital Management LP now owns 4,548,323 shares of the company's stock worth $139,679,000 after buying an additional 263,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Sprout Social by 110.7% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 454,162 shares of the company's stock worth $13,947,000 after buying an additional 238,650 shares during the last quarter.

Sprout Social Stock Performance

SPT traded down $0.81 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $19.75. The company had a trading volume of 372,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 613,168. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of -18.99 and a beta of 1.01. Sprout Social, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.52 and a 12-month high of $39.75. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $21.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.20.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $109.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $107.63 million. Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 14.25% and a negative return on equity of 31.03%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sprout Social, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprout Social news, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.12, for a total value of $844,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at $156,647.04. The trade was a 84.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen Walker sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.42, for a total transaction of $97,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $498,414.30. This represents a 16.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 152,375 shares of company stock valued at $3,223,785. Company insiders own 10.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SPT shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $30.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $34.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $38.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $29.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.00.

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.