Insider Selling: Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Sells 1,000 Shares of Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.25, for a total value of $140,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,486,369.50. This trade represents a 8.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Sprouts Farmers Market stock traded down $1.05 on Thursday, hitting $139.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,028,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,312,466. The firm has a market cap of $13.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $150.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.21. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $60.46 and a one year high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on SFM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target 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. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.92.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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