Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) COO Nicholas Konat Sells 11,283 Shares

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) COO Nicholas Konat sold 11,283 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.13, for a total value of $1,614,935.79. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,968,762.75. The trade was a 16.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Nicholas Konat also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, March 20th, Nicholas Konat sold 531 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total transaction of $74,037.33.
• On Monday, March 17th, Nicholas Konat sold 8,755 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total transaction of $1,203,112.10.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $149.78 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. 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’s fifty day moving average is $151.44 and its 200 day moving average is $136.79. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $61.61 and a one year high of $178.99.

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. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SFM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,554,000 after buying an additional 56,652 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,322,000 after acquiring an additional 24,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,484,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,634,000 after acquiring an additional 56,161 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,843,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,231,000 after purchasing an additional 168,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% during the 4th 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 during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on SFM shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company 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 on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.00.

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.