Needham & Company LLC Cuts Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Price Target to $14.00

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) had its target price lowered by Needham & Company LLC from $32.00 to $14.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

SPT has been the subject of several other research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $9.00 price target (down from $16.00) on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $26.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.11.

Sprout Social Trading Down 9.3%

NASDAQ SPT opened at $6.45 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.09. Sprout Social has a one year low of $6.03 and a one year high of $27.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $381.78 million, a PE ratio of -8.72 and a beta of 0.94.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $120.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.68 million. Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 9.47% and a negative return on equity of 16.51%. 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. Analysts expect that Sprout Social will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Aaron Edward Frederick Rankin purchased 90,661 shares of Sprout Social stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,009,963.54. Following the transaction, the director owned 114,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,280,754.66. The trade was a 372.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.70, for a total value of $428,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 7,417 shares in the company, valued at $79,361.90. This trade represents a 84.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 10.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprout Social

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 76,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $865,000 after acquiring an additional 21,399 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its position in Sprout Social by 228.3% during the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 38,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 26,474 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sprout Social during the 4th quarter worth about $114,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Sprout Social by 225.9% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 126,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after purchasing an additional 87,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Sprout Social in the 4th quarter valued at about $440,000.

Key Stories Impacting 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

About Sprout Social

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.