Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Kristen E. Blum Sells 2,000 Shares

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Kristen E. Blum sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 51,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,162,700. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFM traded up $0.83 during trading on Thursday, reaching $102.79. 60,551 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,352,707. The company has a 50-day moving average of $89.21 and a 200-day moving average of $75.19. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.46 and a 52-week high of $103.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 27.53%. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $89.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,152.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 65,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,159,000 after acquiring an additional 62,755 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 77,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after acquiring an additional 7,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 267.2% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 35,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,711,000 after buying an additional 25,879 shares during the period.

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.