Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Key Points

• Sprout Social reported quarterly earnings of $0.18 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.15 by $0.03, along with a revenue of $111.78 million which was above the anticipated $110.93 million.
• Despite the earnings beat, Sprout Social's stock fell by 5.4%, trading at $13.94, and has a market cap of $811.03 million.
• Insider trading activity revealed CEO Ryan Paul Barretto sold 16,800 shares, reducing his ownership by 12.30%, while institutional investors like Goldman Sachs raised their stakes in the company.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT - Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $111.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.93 million. Sprout Social had a negative return on equity of 26.65% and a negative net margin of 12.70%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.09 earnings per share.

Sprout Social Stock Down 5.4%

Sprout Social stock traded down $0.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $13.94. 1,214,893 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 703,274. Sprout Social has a 52-week low of $13.75 and a 52-week high of $36.30. The firm has a market cap of $811.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.67 and a beta of 0.99. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $19.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.13.

Insider Activity at Sprout Social

In other news, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto sold 16,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total transaction of $355,488.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 119,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,534,439. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen Walker sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.05, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 14.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 112,375 shares of company stock worth $2,389,535. Corporate insiders own 10.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Sprout Social

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Sprout Social by 23.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 325,750 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,163,000 after buying an additional 60,947 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Sprout Social by 391.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 35,985 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 28,667 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Sprout Social during the first quarter worth $365,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Sprout Social in the first quarter worth $325,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 2.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 53,127 shares of the company's stock worth $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $32.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price target on Sprout Social from $34.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Sprout Social in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Sprout Social from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.42.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.