Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) VP Sells $31,929.47 in Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 229 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total transaction of $31,929.47. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,425,811.18. This represents a 2.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

SFM traded up $2.62 on Friday, hitting $142.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,133,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,315,985. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.50. 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 $61.61 and a 12 month high of $178.99. The firm has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on SFM shares. Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.92.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter worth about $207,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 25,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,780,000 after purchasing an additional 3,651 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,662,000.

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.