Nicholas Konat Sells 531 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) COO Nicholas Konat sold 531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total value of $74,037.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 66,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,335,953.94. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Nicholas Konat also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 17th, Nicholas Konat sold 8,755 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total transaction of $1,203,112.10.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $142.39 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $150.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.75. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.61 and a fifty-two week high of $178.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.96 billion, a PE ratio of 37.87, 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SFM shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Northcoast Research upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.92.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth $1,006,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $757,000 after buying an additional 1,178 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth about $613,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,198,000.

Sprouts Farmers Market Company Profile

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.