Insider Selling: Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Sells 1,500 Shares of Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Hari K. Avula sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.28, for a total value of $241,920.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,650,216.96. This trade represents a 12.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $161.28 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $155.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $149.12. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1-year low of $74.15 and a 1-year high of $178.99. The company has a market cap of $15.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.89, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,033.4% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,476,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,097 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter worth approximately $143,113,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 300.3% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,037,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,316,000 after purchasing an additional 778,079 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $106,852,000. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 632,523 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SFM shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.79.

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.