Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Sells $140,250.00 in Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.25, for a total value of $140,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,598 shares in the company, valued at $1,486,369.50. The trade was a 8.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $142.39 on Friday. 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 $13.96 billion, a PE ratio of 37.87, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.61 and a 52-week high of $178.99. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.75.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. 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 report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.92.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $143,113,000. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,034,000 after purchasing an additional 632,523 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,117,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,946,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,139,000 after purchasing an additional 294,553 shares in the last quarter.

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.