Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Sells $724,000.00 in Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total transaction of $724,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 28,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,137,080.80. This trade represents a 14.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

SFM stock traded down $1.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $136.97. The company had a trading volume of 2,433,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,572,619. The company has a market cap of $13.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.63. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.46 and a twelve month high of $178.99. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $132.66.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS 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 business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFM has been the subject of several research reports. Northcoast Research raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on 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, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.00.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $143,113,000. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,034,000 after acquiring an additional 632,523 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at $64,117,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth $53,946,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,139,000 after purchasing an additional 294,553 shares during 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.