Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf Sells 229 Shares

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 229 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 10,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,425,811.18. The trade was a 2.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of SFM traded up $2.62 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $142.39. The stock had a trading volume of 2,133,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,315,985. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.50. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.61 and a 12 month high of $178.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth approximately $143,113,000. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its holdings 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 worth $165,034,000 after buying an additional 632,523 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at $64,117,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at $53,946,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,139,000 after acquiring an additional 294,553 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SFM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, March 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.92.

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.