AlphaQuest LLC Increases Position in Sprout Social, Inc. $SPT

AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) by 205.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,479 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,011 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Sprout Social were worth $98,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,900,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,762,000 after acquiring an additional 14,771 shares during the period. Dorsey Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey Asset Management LLC now owns 2,306,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,822,000 after acquiring an additional 330,155 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,200,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,388,000 after acquiring an additional 28,876 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprout Social in the 1st quarter valued at $13,131,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Sprout Social by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 493,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,154,000 after purchasing an additional 22,122 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprout Social

In related news, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of Sprout Social stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 7,417 shares in the company, valued at $156,647.04. The trade was a 84.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Karen Walker sold 5,000 shares of Sprout Social stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.05, for a total value of $95,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 28,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $551,745.15. This represents a 14.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 61,800 shares of company stock worth $1,295,538. Insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

Sprout Social Stock Performance

Shares of SPT opened at $15.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $17.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.92. Sprout Social, Inc. has a one year low of $13.33 and a one year high of $36.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $896.85 million, a P/E ratio of -16.05 and a beta of 0.86.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $111.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.93 million. Sprout Social had a negative return on equity of 25.95% and a negative net margin of 12.70%.The company’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Sprout Social, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SPT shares. 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. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued 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 issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Zacks Research cut Sprout Social from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Sprout Social from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.36.

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.