Insider Selling: Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) SVP Sells 756 Shares of Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) SVP Kim Coffin sold 756 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.65, for a total value of $106,331.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,775,706.25. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Kim Coffin also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 17th, Kim Coffin sold 4,060 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $557,925.20.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:SFM traded down $1.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $139.77. 1,028,809 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,312,466. The company has a fifty day moving average of $150.80 and a 200 day moving average of $135.21. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.46 and a twelve month high of $178.99. The company has a market capitalization of $13.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SFM shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.92.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter valued at about $207,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 25,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,780,000 after purchasing an additional 3,651 shares during the last quarter.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the retailing of fresh, natural, and organic food products under the Sprouts brand in the United States. It offers perishable product categories, including fresh produce, meat and meat alternatives, seafood, deli, bakery, floral, and dairy and dairy alternatives; and non-perishable product categories, such as grocery, vitamins and supplements, bulk items, frozen foods, beer and wine, and natural health and body care.