Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective (down from $16.00) on shares of Sprout Social in a report on Friday. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $9.00 to $6.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $26.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Sprout Social from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Sprout Social from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.11.

Sprout Social Trading Down 9.3%

Shares of SPT stock opened at $6.45 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.11. Sprout Social has a 12-month low of $6.03 and a 12-month high of $27.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $381.78 million, a P/E ratio of -8.72 and a beta of 0.90.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $120.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.68 million. Sprout Social had a negative return on equity of 16.51% and a negative net margin of 9.47%.Sprout Social has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.970 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.150-0.160 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Sprout Social will post -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto purchased 93,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.67 per share, for a total transaction of $1,002,809.28. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 875,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,338,981.52. The trade was a 12.03% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Aaron Edward Frederick Rankin acquired 90,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.14 per share, with a total value of $1,009,963.54. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 114,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,280,754.66. This represents a 372.97% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprout Social

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC raised its stake in Sprout Social by 399.0% in the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 2,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 2,015 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprout Social during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in shares of Sprout Social in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Sprout Social by 78.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Sprout Social by 2,754.5% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 3,388 shares during the period.

Trending Headlines about Sprout Social

Here are the key news stories impacting Sprout Social this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat estimates and management raised guidance — Sprout reported $0.20 non‑GAAP EPS and $120.9M revenue (both above consensus) and issued Q1 and FY‑2026 non‑GAAP EPS and revenue guidance well above prior expectations; this supports the company’s claim of improving profitability and cash generation. SPT Beats Q4 Sales Expectations (Yahoo)
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic catalysts: management set a new target (30% Rule of 40 on a non‑GAAP basis by Q4 2027), highlighted growth in $30K+ customers (22% subscription revenue growth contribution) and promoted AI product Trellis — these initiatives aim to lift enterprise ARPU and margins over time. Quiver: Targets 30% Rule of 40
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call and disclosures provide detail but mixed signals — transcripts and slide deck show recurring GAAP losses alongside improving non‑GAAP profitability and higher deferred revenue/RPO, giving investors both runway and execution risk to weigh. Seeking Alpha: Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts pared targets and some issued downgrades after the print — KeyCorp cut its target to $6 and moved to underweight, Canaccord trimmed its target to $9 (hold), and Needham sharply reduced a prior $32 target to $14 (still buy); the headline KeyCorp move and mixed analyst views are likely driving near‑term selling pressure. These Analysts Cut Their Forecasts On Sprout Social After Q4 Earnings (Benzinga)
• Negative Sentiment: Underlying fundamentals still show GAAP losses and retention headwinds — Sprout reported a GAAP net loss, negative net margin and dollar‑based net retention of 100% (down from 104%), which keeps execution risk and future growth sustainability on investors’ radar. Quiver: Financial & Customer Metrics
• Negative Sentiment: Insider and institutional flows look unfavorable in recent filings — Quiver/other summaries show multiple insider sales and notable institutional reductions by some large holders, which can amplify downside momentum even when results beat. Quiver: Insider & Institutional Activity

Sprout Social Company Profile

Sprout Social (NASDAQ: SPT) is a Chicago-based software company specializing in social media management solutions for businesses of all sizes. The company provides a cloud-based platform designed to help organizations improve their social media presence through a suite of tools for content scheduling, community engagement, social listening and analytics. Sprout Social’s platform is built to streamline the workflows of marketing, customer care and public relations teams by providing a centralized hub for managing multiple social channels.

The company’s product offerings include publishing and scheduling capabilities that allow users to plan and automate social content across networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.