Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Joe Fortunato Sells 5,000 Shares

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total value of $724,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 28,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,137,080.80. The trade was a 14.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ SFM opened at $136.97 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $60.46 and a twelve month high of $178.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.50 billion, a PE ratio of 36.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $150.11 and its 200 day moving average is $132.66.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Northcoast Research raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth $1,161,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,020,000 after acquiring an additional 156,175 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter valued at $13,348,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter valued at $3,252,000. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at $1,517,000.

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.