Insider Selling: Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Sells 1,000 Shares of Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.25, for a total value of $140,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,598 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,486,369.50. This trade represents a 8.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ SFM opened at $142.39 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $150.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $61.61 and a one year high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Unified Investment Management acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth $1,161,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,020,000 after purchasing an additional 156,175 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth about $13,348,000. First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth about $1,517,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 983,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,561,000 after purchasing an additional 48,103 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Northcoast Research raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.92.

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.