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 business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.13, for a total transaction 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 approximately $7,968,762.75. This trade represents a 16.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

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

• On Thursday, March 20th, Nicholas Konat sold 531 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The shares were 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 shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total transaction of $1,203,112.10.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

SFM opened at $149.70 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a PE ratio of 39.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.70. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.61 and a fifty-two week high of $178.99.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth approximately $143,113,000. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% during the fourth 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 during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter worth about $64,117,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth about $53,946,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew 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 acquiring an additional 294,553 shares in the last quarter.

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.