Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

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, August 6th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. Sprout Social had a negative return on equity of 25.95% and a negative net margin of 12.70%. The firm had revenue of $111.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.09 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Sprout Social Stock Performance

Shares of Sprout Social stock traded up $0.56 on Wednesday, hitting $14.15. The stock had a trading volume of 811,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 695,828. The company's 50 day moving average price is $19.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.78. The stock has a market cap of $822.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.88 and a beta of 0.99. 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 has a 52-week low of $13.33 and a 52-week high of $36.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SPT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer cut their target price 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, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Sprout Social in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Sprout Social from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sprout Social presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.12, for a total value of $844,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $156,647.04. This represents a 84.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen Walker sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.05, for a total transaction of $95,250.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 28,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $551,745.15. This trade 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 112,375 shares of company stock valued at $2,389,535 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.12% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprout Social

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Sprout Social by 2,690.2% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,529 shares of the company's stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 6,295 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprout Social in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $325,000. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprout Social in the first quarter valued at approximately $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 391.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 2.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 53,127 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,168,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter.

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.