Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Sells $1,527,660.00 in Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total transaction of $1,527,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,459,571.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

SFM stock opened at $140.86 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $112.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.98 and a 12 month high of $142.29.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.6% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,566,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 931 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SFM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Melius Research initiated coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 target price for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.40.

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.