Insider Selling: Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) COO Sells 8,755 Shares of Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) COO Nicholas Konat sold 8,755 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $1,203,112.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 63,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,773,579.90. The trade was a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of SFM opened at $140.82 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $150.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.46 and a 1-year high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. Analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.92.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter worth $1,942,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted 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 worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the period. 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 acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter valued at about $207,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.6% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in 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.