Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) Trading Down 8.4% Following Analyst Downgrade

Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG) shares traded down 8.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $32.00 to $28.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Sweetgreen traded as low as $31.06 and last traded at $30.67. 493,586 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 2,061,860 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.50.

SG has been the subject of a number of other reports. KeyCorp began coverage on Sweetgreen in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Sweetgreen in a research note on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Sweetgreen in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Sweetgreen from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $44.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sweetgreen news, CFO Mitch Reback sold 8,000 shares of Sweetgreen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.13, for a total value of $265,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 350,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,628,000.53. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jonathan Neman sold 1,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.01, for a total value of $40,410.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,930,228 shares in the company, valued at $77,228,422.28. The trade was a 0.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 648,838 shares of company stock worth $25,065,773. Company insiders own 21.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SG. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in Sweetgreen by 0.3% during the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 112,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,993,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in Sweetgreen by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 8,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Sweetgreen by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $990,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Sweetgreen by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pier Capital LLC increased its position in Sweetgreen by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pier Capital LLC now owns 293,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,399,000 after buying an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. 95.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sweetgreen Stock Down 7.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of -39.28 and a beta of 2.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.86.

Sweetgreen Company Profile

Sweetgreen, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates fast food restaurants serving healthy foods at scale in the United States. The company also accepts orders through its online and mobile ordering platforms, as well as sells gift cards that do not have an expiration date and can be redeemed. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.