Insider Selling: Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Insider Sells 500 Shares of Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total value of $48,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,651,373.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of SFM traded up $1.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $97.87. 1,243,815 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,360,588. The stock has a market cap of $9.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $87.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.63. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.46 and a 1 year high of $103.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.16. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 27.53% and a net margin of 4.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFM. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,152.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 65,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after buying an additional 62,755 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. Strs Ohio grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 10,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 8,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $407,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SFM. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $89.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.38.

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.