Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Douglas Gregory Rauch Sells 700 Shares

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $104,223.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,619,029.86. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 1.2 %

Sprouts Farmers Market stock traded down $1.72 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $147.79. The stock had a trading volume of 798,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,330,484. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $134.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.33. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.74 and a twelve month high of $155.64. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $14.78 billion, a PE ratio of 43.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.58.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The company’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. Analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 223.5% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 80.6% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price objective on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.40.

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.